


The Last Sacrifice: The End of the Silver Millennium

by tucuxia



Category: Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon | Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon (Anime & Manga)
Genre: F/F, F/M, Silver Millennium Era
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-06-16
Updated: 2018-06-16
Packaged: 2019-05-23 23:32:46
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 35
Words: 259,977
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14943407
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tucuxia/pseuds/tucuxia
Summary: As the Silver Millennium draws to a close, Princess Haruka of Uranus goes on a quest to discover where she fits in the cosmic scheme, a quest that brings down the greatest kingdom that ever spanned the Solar System.





	1. Motherless Queen

**Chapter 1: Motherless Queen**

* * *

_January 27, 8962 – June 30, 8969_

* * *

Her mother had died birthing her. It was a strange occurrence among the citizens of the Silver Millennium for a woman to die for her child, even more strange for a _senshi_ to die in a way that her queen could not prevent. And yet the Queen of Uranus, always seen as a slender, frail woman, had lost far too much blood for a tiny child that resembled her almost exactly. All of the Queens had been present for her birth, as was common when an heir was due, but her father had not been in Miranda Castle that day. He had not been able to say goodbye to his wife, and he could never look at his daughter without resenting her for that. The poor child, passed into the care of nursemaids and tutors, was granted a name that indicated her place in her father's eyes. _Haruka_. Distant. Born a queen, the laws of the Silver Millennium would not let her receive her crown until she could become Sailor Uranus, so she lived a sheltered and lonely life as the only princess of Uranus.

* * *

The King of Uranus looked up from the near endless stream of reports vying for attention in the air above his desk, moving most of them to the side with a wave of his hand as one of his oldest and dearest friends, as well as former queen, entered his private study. Only a woman could be a Sailor Senshi, one of the powerful protectors of the Solar System and the Queen, so only a Queen could truly rule her people. The Queen of Pluto, though she held no official rank in the Uranian court, was still Koshu's superior as a noble woman of the Silver Millennium, and none of his servants or guards would dare prevent her from entering his study.

She was clearly visiting him on Palace business, dressed in her sailor fuku, a dark staff holding a garnet stone in one hand and a small data crystal in the other. Her long, dark green hair flowed down her back in silky straight waves, somehow remaining clean and free of tangles no matter how hard she trained or fought. He had been entranced by the infinity of wisdom in her garnet eyes the first time they met, surprised at her olive skin in a kingdom full of fairer royals. She barely resembled anyone in her family, and it was often hinted that the True Sailor Pluto was only born once every few generations, while the ones in-between were only pale substitutes. If that rumor was even remotely true, then Pluto Setsuna was certainly the real deal, power in every motion.

"Pluto Setsuna, to what do I owe this pleasure?" He stood and gave a shallow bow, indicating that her station was slightly above his. It would not do to cross such a powerful woman. "A visit from the Queen of Pluto is not a matter to be taken lightly, especially here."

"It most certainly is not," the senshi replied, a small smile taking any unintentional sting out of her soft words. "We have been friends since I introduced you to Kazeko years ago, and I have come for a number of reasons."

Koshu clapped his hands, calling for servants to bring refreshments as he and the Queen settled themselves on cushions before a simple table, leaving his desk and the trappings of his station behind. "Please, tell me why you have come." The servant poured tea for both of them before leaving the pair alone.

"Koshu, your daughter is yours to raise as you wish, but the other queens and I are worried that she is not receiving the proper education to become Sailor Uranus."

Koshu shrugged, letting his mind wander to the last time he had seen his daughter. She was well educated in practical sciences and royal etiquette, but her recent studies had turned to war strategies and swordplay. Having little interest in the girl, he let her practice with any weapon she decided to pick up, knowing that her love of swords was part of her Sailor Uranus destiny. Lacking a female role model that did not bow to her every whim, Haruka had begun to cut her blonde hair short and wear princely suits instead of princess dresses. Koshu, an outsider, could never know that Haruka's actions were customary on this planet of war, and expected. Kazeko had been more feminine than the child, but as she grew, it was clear that she would take after her cousin Ono Hikari who proudly held the title of Fourth War Queen.

Since the War Queens had distanced themselves and their decisions from Koshu after the death of his wife, he had little council in the matters of Uranian culture. All he knew is that his daughter had become a master of the blade before she was as tall as the weapons she wielded, and she yearned for more, for anything that would make her father notice her. In his grief over losing Kazeko, Koshu could never make himself stay in the same room as his child for any length of time.

"I see you are thinking about her."

There was no point in prevaricating with the senshi who guarded the Time Gate, one whose garnet eyes seemed to see into his very soul. "She has received an education proper for a Uranian Royal, and she is becoming quite an accomplished swordsman for a child her age. The War Queens arranged a proper training regimen, though they rarely interact with her themselves."

"But she has yet to travel to the other planets and meet the women who will defend the Solar System with her. Training with the other senshi is the only way she can ever hope to be strong enough to defeat any enemy she meets. As the future leader of the Outer Senshi, she must learn this ability."

Koshu clenched his hand into a fist, staring into his tea for a moment before responding. His voice was harsh when he finally spoke. "What would you have me do? I have no interest in spending any time with the other Queens who let my wife die, and I can't look at Haruka without seeing Kazeko's face. She's going to look just like her mother."

"Do you blame her?"

"What?" Koshu's head shot up at the question, noting the sadness in Setsuna's eyes. For a moment he saw her, the lonely Queen of Pluto guarding an equally lonely Time Gate with no husband or children to keep her company, and he remembered that Kazeko had been her best friend when they were growing up. "How could you suggest such a thing?"

"Because Haruka has thought it. She knows that her mother is dead because of her birth, and she wants to make it up to you. She wants to be with you, wants to make you proud. If nothing else, Koshu, you were the finest Sword Master on Uranus years ago, and no one can train her to protect this world better than you. If she is not ready when she is called to fight, she will die. Do you want that? Do you want Kazeko's only child and your heir to die because you can't stand to look at her?"

"No, of course not," Koshu whispered, eyes falling to the table. He did blame her, a little bit, but such anger was pointless. She was an innocent child, and she certainly had no control over whether her mother lived or died on the day she was born. Kazeko had always been frail, and Haruka was as strong as a boy when she was born. Her mother had given all of her strength to her child so that the next Sailor Uranus would be powerful enough to protect the Silver Millennium when she could not. _"I'll try, Setsuna, if you think I should. I don't want her to die_." He spoke the words in Plutonian, a language that could form no lies, and Setsuna accepted the sincerity of his statement. "Why else did you come here today?"

Setsuna handed him the crystal she had been carrying, waiting for him to plug it into the nearest portable reader and scan the document. "The Queen has given birth." Koshu, reading the letter in shock, never noticed the slight hitch in Setsuna's soft voice, or the shadow of pain in the back of her now-crimson eyes. Setsuna's eyes had been known to run the gamut of reds from a bright crimson to a dark garnet depending on her emotions, and Koshu had seen her so angry once that her eyes had been nearly black. For the most part, however, the lonely queen was in full control of her emotions. Even now, she had regained control before the king could even raise his head to look at her.

"We are invited to a party in her honor? All of the Royal Families?" The missive was written in Lunarian, a complex language that the King and Queen of the Moon only used for special occasions. The message was brief, though the letters and grammar of the language used made it five times longer than it would have been when written in Sol Standard or even the popular Uranian dialects. Koshu had been forced to learn the popular four Uranian languages – Common High Mirandan (though not the Warrior Dialect), High Oberonian, Artistic Titanian, and Arien – very quickly when he started courting Kazeko, and to this day he wasn't completely comfortable with some of the colloquialisms or social cues used by his people. To avoid embarrassing situations and to avoid letting the War Queens overwhelm him in meetings, he tended to stick with Sol Standard. In some ways, he knew that it marked him as an outsider, but it was better than being rendered powerless. Sometimes they would talk around him in the warrior dialects, Secret Umbrien, or one of the Low languages that one not born on Uranus could never hope to master, and he wondered how long his rule could truly last.

"That is correct," Setsuna replied, pulling the king out of his dark thoughts. "All of the other Royal Families have accepted and will attend with the heirs to their senshi legacies. The princess will one day be their Queen, so it has been decided that all of them should meet her now." The command in Setsuna's voice was absolute, and Koshu knew better than to disobey.

"Haruka and I will be there, dressed for the occasion. I suppose that it is time for her to learn her place in the Silver Millennium."

"Good." Setsuna stood to leave, placing a hand on her friend's arm as she offered the only sympathy she could. "You are not the only one to lose your partner, my friend. There is no King of Neptune and I . . . I have lost the only person my soul would have. Do not despair, Koshu, and please try to keep in touch with the other kingdoms more."

"I will. Thank you, Setsuna."

* * *

Haruka twirled awkwardly, her nose crinkled in disgust at the dress her maids had forced her into. One of them struggled to hold her still while another slipped tiny jeweled pins into what little hair she had. Her emerald eyes sparked angrily, promising retribution upon whomever demanded that she dress like a _girl_. "Do I have to wear this? I like my suits much better."

"You're a princess, Haruka, and must dress the part." The servants gasped and struggled to hold the princess and bow at the same time as King Koshu entered the child's chamber. Haruka stopped struggling at once, wide eyes locked on her father and the splendid golden suit he had chosen for the party. Koshu smiled and touched Haruka's head, ruffling her short hair to the dismay of the hairdresser who had just combed it. "You look like a little angel. The other queens will love it."

Haruka huffed and crossed her arms over her chest. Her father barely talked to her, and almost never smiled at her, but even that treat could not make up for the fact that she was wearing a dress and going to some stupid party. "Why do I have to go anyway? She's the Princess of the Moon and I . . . _I won't ever have anything to do with her_." The last she growled in Warrior Mirandan, a rough, harsh language of warlike expediency that was usually seen as barbaric and unwelcome at the Royal Court.

"Haruka, stick to Solarian," Koshu snapped, having no patience for his own child speaking languages that he would never be able to understand. It was enough that the War Queens and Duchess Council spoke those dialects when they wanted to keep secrets from their king. He was lucky that he had understood a handful of her words, having picked up a nearly identical phrase coming from the War Queens in reference to his relationship with his child. "You know better than to use that rough tone in polite company. And you're wrong on that point. We Outer Kingdoms exist to protect the Moon from foreign threats, while the Inner Kingdoms protect the Silver Millennium from any domestic disputes. One day you will be Sailor Uranus, and the burden of protecting the Queen will fall to you."

Haruka's green eyes widened as her servants finished dressing her. "I'm a Sailor Senshi? I'm one of the powerful warriors in my history book?"

"Yes, just like your mother. I'll show you her talisman, the Space Sword, and her henshin stick when we return from the Moon. One day you will wield them, and you must be familiar with your power. Your mother was Sailor Uranus, our Queen, and it was her destiny to fight for our kingdom."

"I'm the Princess of Uranus; is it my destiny to fight?"

"One day it will be. But for now, it will be enough to meet the others who will fight beside you when you are grown."

* * *

Haruka followed her father into the palace, proud to be among such an elite group of people allowed to see the newborn princess, but uncomfortable among so many royals. She knew she was one of them by birth, but she felt like an outsider, like they were intentionally avoiding her. Her father greeted some of the kings and queens warmly, taking the time to meet their daughters, but none of the adults he greeted would speak to her. Why wouldn't any of them greet her? Were they intentionally avoiding her because she didn't have a mother?

"That's not the reason," a tranquil voice whispered from behind her. Spinning around, knowing that her father was too busy talking with the King of Jupiter to notice her, the princess found herself facing a tall, olive-skinned woman with long green hair and sad garnet eyes who seemed to be hiding in the shadows. Even though she was as richly dressed as the other royals, she didn't hesitate to kneel down to Haruka's level so they could speak more easily. "They know that your father has spent little time with you, so they believe that you are wild and uncontrollable. They are afraid to talk to you."

"I'm not wild," Haruka replied, crossing her arms over her chest. "I'm a Princess of Uranus and I know how to act in Court."

"Of course you do," the stranger whispered, smiling as she gestured at the modest crowd. It never crossed Haruka's mind to ask how this woman knew her thoughts, but she did question what she was expected to see.

"I don't understand."

"When the princess is presented, show everyone that you are an educated princess and that you deserve their respect and the future Queen of Uranus."

"I will," Haruka announced, squaring her shoulders as she glanced over her shoulder and smiled at her new friend. "Thank you . . ."

The woman sensed the question in the pause. "I am Setsuna, Queen of Pluto. It is a pleasure to meet you, Haruka."

The princess grinned as she dashed forward to rejoin her father, the king halfway across the room in an animated conversation with the King of Saturn. He had not noticed her absence, but she was determined to do something that would make all of them notice her. In the shadows of the room, Setsuna faded away, returning to the Queen's side just in time for the Presentation.

All noise in the small ballroom ceased as the heralds at the top of the stairs sounded their trumpets. The royals gathered in their family units, forming a rough circle around the small dais where the Queen would sit during royal parties and balls. With no more fanfare than that, the tall, silver-haired woman who ruled over them all entered the room, her long hair floating behind her. She carried a tiny bundle in her arm, her dark-haired king behind her as every royal hit one knee, bowing to their sovereign.

" _Thank you all for coming_ ," Queen Serenity whispered, her use of Lunarian indicating the importance of this event. Haruka glanced up and noticed that some of her fellow princesses were unable to completely understand the Queen, though she herself had been speaking the High Language for almost three years now. She was eager to learn the common languages of her sister planets, hoping to one day be able to visit the other princesses in their courts and converse with them in their own native tongues. Uranus was an anomaly, having more languages and dialects than moons, but most of the other worlds had a single primary language and the related dialects were not drastically different. Lunarian did not have any other dialects, so it had been relatively easy to learn but immensely important throughout the Silver Millennium.

Serenity placed her tiny heir gently into the crib beside her throne, smiling as the royals rose and approached the dais. The Moon King stood back, nearly in the shadows, having always been a vague presence at Court and never greatly noticed, certainly never seen without his queen.

"It is good to see that all of you could make it," Serenity continued, speaking in Solarian for the sake of the children of her Queens. "Please help me welcome my daughter and heir, High Princess Serenity of the Silver Millennium." The queens of Mars and Venus smiled and embraced their queen, murmuring something to her too softly for Haruka to understand. All of the adults looked at the princess in turn, bowing and moving away, leaving the children to meet their future queen.

Haruka decided that she would be the first princess to see baby Serenity, since she was already technically queen and also the oldest of the various princesses. Carefully lifting her expensive golden skirt, Haruka hopped up the two steps to the throne, slowly leaning forward to see the baby princess. She felt all eyes turn to her, everyone wondering what this wild princess from Uranus would do, but baby Serenity opened her pale blue eyes at that instant, and nothing else seemed to matter. Her hair was blonde, just like Haruka's, but much more vibrant and probably much softer. She cooed and reached out her hand, giggling as only a baby could when Haruka's fingers met hers.

" _Princess Serenity, I swear to protect you at all costs from any threat, no matter where it originates. I promise to love you as my sovereign and guard you even when you tell me not to. I will never follow an imposter, and I will always recognize you, in this life and the next. This I swear, my Princess."_ Haruka bowed to the baby, feeling the weight of the Lunarian words she had spoken bind her heart. One could never make a vow in the High Language and fail to obey it, and she had no intention of failing to protect her princess. She might not be the most feminine Queen, and she might be a wild, untamed Uranian, but she would become the strongest Senshi of all time in order to protect this tiny blonde girl.

She looked up as Queen Serenity placed a gentle hand on her shoulder, smiling at the young Uranian. "That was well said, future Sailor Uranus. I know that I can trust my daughter's life in your hands." Haruka blushed, sketching a clumsy curtsy to the queen, but the woman did not mock her efforts. "You have your mother's eyes, but there is a strength in you that she always wished to possess. You are truly her heir, Haruka, and I know my kingdom will be safe as long as you are guarding it."

And with Serenity's words, all doubts and worry were gone from the room. The other princesses gathered around Haruka, dividing their attention between the newborn and the Senshi who had seen her first, demanding to know her name and anything else about her that she was willing to share. From the shadows behind the throne, the King of the Moon smiled sagely, glad that the princesses were all getting along so well.

The princess of Jupiter introduced herself to Haruka first, her long pale green hair only barely as tamed as Haruka's, her soft emerald dress clearly dyed to match her vibrant eyes. "I am Jupiter Makoto, the only daughter of my family. My brothers are all so jealous that they couldn't come to see the princess today, but I am going to be Sailor Jupiter so Mother and Father brought me. Uranus is a planet of war, like Jupiter, isn't it? What's your favorite weapon?"

"Sword," Haruka replied, already warming to her new friend. "It's my talisman, too."

"My talisman is a quarterstaff and I've been practicing with it for years. I don't know about your planet, but on Jupiter you can only be a commander if you can defeat the previous one in armed combat. I have to defeat my mother to claim her henshin stick."

"The law is the same on Mars," another girl piped up, eager to join a conversation about war when she had dreaded the entire visit would be too girly. Her long, blood red hair shone with golden highlights in the brilliance of the room, and her amethyst eyes danced with joy to have found friends. "I'm Mars Rei, and I specialize in archery, though I am also learning to use swords. On Mars, we never pick just one specialty since we are trained to use our enemy's weapon if necessary in combat. Mother tells me that Uranus, Jupiter, and Mars form the core of the Solar Army but it hasn't been needed offensively in hundreds of years."

"As Sailor Venus, it will be my duty to command the Senshi team and to be the decoy for the princess in times of need." The blonde girl pointed at her long hair ruefully, letting the other princesses see that she was nearly identical to the baby Serenity in coloring. "The princess is always blonde until she becomes queen and gains the full power of her court and the ginzuishou, so the physical similarities my line shares with her lets us protect her even from assassins. My talisman is a chain, but I like swords, too."

"We'll have to train together sometime," Rei offered, taking her new friend's hand excitedly. Minako smiled at the Martian, nodding in agreement. She felt something spark inside her, a sense of _belonging_ , but she was far too young to understand what it was.

"One day all of us will train together," a new voice piped up, the small blue-haired girl fidgeting shyly as she became the focus of the group. "Mother says we need to learn to fight together, so when we are old enough we will begin to train as senshi together. I'm Mercury Ami, and I specialize in strategy, healing, and protection."

"What's your talisman?"

Ami blushed lightly at Makoto's question, clearly concerned that her inheritance wasn't as impressive as her friends' talismans. "It's a harp, but I can't play very well yet."

"A harp? That is a wonderful instrument for a princess to play." The gentle voice washed over the other princesses, calming them and reminding them of days at the beach when the tide was coming in. The speaker, younger than Haruka but older than her other peers, smiled at the group as she brushed her wavy aqua hair over her shoulder. "It would be nice to play together some time when we are not busy training. I prefer stringed instruments, myself." Haruka froze as the other princess's vibrant eyes locked with hers, absently noting that the sapphire orbs shone teal in the light. She felt drawn to the girl in a way she could not describe. "You have the look of an artist, too, Princess Haruka. What instrument do you play?"

"Piano," she managed to stutter out, not having planned to let anyone know her secret. "But I don't have much time for that with my weapons training."

"There is always time for art, even on a planet of war." The girl smiled and sketched a graceful curtsy. "I am Michiru, princess of Neptune, and my talisman is the Deep Aqua Mirror. On my planet we practice peace, though the senshi herself is well-versed in fighting tactics she needs to protect the kingdom from outside threats."

"It's very nice to meet all of you," Haruka remarked smoothly, noting that the princess from Neptune refused to look away from her. "I'm glad that we will be able to train together when we are older."

"Michiru!" The children looked up, startled, as an elegant woman in a lavender dress thundered up the group. Her long blue hair was streaked with aqua and tipped in white, her resemblance to Michiru obvious. "I will not have you associating with that rough child and ruining your education. A lady of Neptune must never consider the warrior mindset that is so prevalent on Uranus."

"Mother, I was just meeting the other future senshi," Michiru protested, grimacing in pain as her mother grabbed her arm and roughly dragged her away.

"There will be none of that, either. As an Outer Senshi you will fight alone so there will be no need to mingle with the warrior children of Jupiter, Mars, and Uranus." The rulers of the named planets glared at the Queen of Neptune as she passed them, furious at the insult to their planets but unwilling to argue with the irate woman. Haruka sensed that something terrible had happened among the kings and queens to isolate Neptune from her peers, though the tension seemed old. She had no idea why the queen singled her out, though. As Michiru's mother removed her from the ballroom, her teal eyes locked with Haruka's emerald once more, a request and a promise passing between them. No matter what her mother thought, Michiru would see Haruka again.

As soon as the irate queen was gone, the other rulers gathered near the dais and began to collect their own children. Koshu, an old pain in his dark eyes, took Haruka's hand to lead her away. "Shousha is right, of course. No matter what Setsuna told me the other day, you won't be training with these girls. The Outer Senshi train and fight together and only interact with the Inner Senshi at Court functions."

"But what if I want to interact with them?" She glanced over her shoulder at the friends she had only just met as their parents separated them.

"It will most likely not be allowed. I'm sorry, but your destiny is a lonely one. Come, we must go home so I can show you your talisman."

"I'd rather have my friends," the blonde princess whispered, forcing back the tears threatening to fall from her stormy eyes.

 


	2. Venusian Customs

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This story is cross-posted from ffnet

**Chapter 2: Venusian Customs**

* * *

_October 22, 8982_

* * *

"Well, if that is what you see, then we must arrange for you to travel to Mars at once."

The young princess, hands crossed demurely in front of her lavender dress, nodded in agreement. "I saw Mars quite clearly during my ritual, so my soul mate has to be a Martian. There can be no mistaking it."

Asakaze smiled at her eldest daughter and heir. "My soul mate was also a Martian. They have quite a fire to them, Minako." Of course, Minako already knew that her father was from that same rust-colored world, but the Venusian custom for small talk insisted that Asakaze not allow the conversation to fall to silence, so often the obvious would become the small talk of choice.

"Do you think he will be hard to find?" Minako knew the answer – every Search was different, but a Venusian never failed to return with her soul's partner.

Her father supplied the expected and traditional answer. "A Venusian never has problems recognizing her soul mate." Shinrai's dark amber eyes scanned the list of available ships on the screen next to his throne as he offered his sage response, his eyes stopping on a likely option. "We will contact the Queen of Mars and have her assign someone suitable to help you with your search for a husband. You will have a standard Solar month to find him, then you will return so your mother can complete your training to become Sailor Venus."

"So soon? But Father, none of the other Inner Senshi have passed their henshin sticks. Even if I complete my training, I will be a leader with no one to command."

"You will be permanently assigned to the Moon as Princess Serenity's bodyguard until the other Senshi are ready to begin their training." Martians tended to be blunt, offering ultimatums and ending conversations when they were simply finished discussing an issue. A Venusian would have dragged the conversation out, trying to convince the young princess that the path offered was the correct one, but Shinrai did not always remember the customs of the world he had married into. "There is a ship leaving for Mars in five standard hours; have one of your servants gather your things so that you may depart at once." Shinrai, King of Venus, turned back to his eldest daughter and smiled. "It is good to see that you are maturing so quickly. I am eager to see you take your place as one of the guardians of this solar system."

"I am as well, Father." Minako, her long blonde hair flowing freely down her back, curtsied to her parents and left the throne room. All she wanted to do after the stress of her Soul Ritual was sleep, but of course she had too many things to accomplish before her journey to Mars. Waving one hand to summon a servant, the princess returned to her room and tried to decide what she would need for a month on Mars.

* * *

The throne room of the main palace of Mars was an intimidating place, built to show strength and therefore lacking many of the frivolities that the other courts prided themselves on. All of the Lords and Ladies were generals in the armies, so they would never dream of wasting their time sitting in the throne room and risk being vulnerable to an attack. The two high thrones towered over the chamber, three smaller thrones two levels down but still above the lesser nobility and visitors. A dark red carpet, almost the exact color of fresh blood, stretched from the thrones to the door, flanked on either side by highly trained and alert Royal Guards and nobility armed for an attack.

Rei never felt intimidated in her mother's court. The presence of weapons and warriors gave her a sense of security, while the gauntlet let her assess any visitor for weakness before they ever approached the throne. Normally, the family only held court in the evenings after a long day of training and inspections, but a message had arrived before dawn requesting that they receive the princess of Venus before the midday meal. Rei's older brother, completely uninterested in a visit from one of the most pacifistic planets in the system, busied himself with a pile of data crystals as he scanned hundreds of reports and sent off nearly as many replies. As High Prince, the huge army would fall under his jurisdiction one day, so that his sister would be free to train as Sailor Mars and spend most of her time on the Moon with the princess, and he reveled in the daily minutiae that would bore his sister to tears.

Rei's younger sister, a slender teen with pink highlights in her red hair and soft lavender eyes, was only paying slightly more attention than her brother. As an eligible princess just growing into her beauty, she received messages from dozens of suitors a day, and she spent hours on the InfoNet researching them and their families before sending each of them a politely worded rejection. She was determined to wed to the very best advantage possible, and she had even sent some of her ladies to the other royal courts to find her a fine duke or one of the young princes that would be worthy of her hand. Rei constantly mocked her for her dedication to marriage, but she knew that their mother would like for her to spend more time focusing on that herself. As the future Sailor Mars, Rei had little time to care about finding a husband, and she instructed her own ladies in waiting to return every marriage request without opening it.

The young redhead sighed as she glanced at the main doors for the fifth time that hour. The ship bearing the young Venusian princess was late, and Rei was missing her archery practice for this meeting. Her parents never displayed even a moment of irritation at the delay, calmly sipping tea and comparing reports from the various cities on Mars, Phobos, and Deimos while their advisors passed data crystals to them. The High Princess took a moment to watch her mother in action, wishing that her own dark red hair carried the same rich golden highlights or that her dark amethyst eyes were closer to Rikuriko's gentle pink. Her mother's beauty was legendary in the Silver Millennium, often ranked at the same level as the Venusian Royals, and Rei often wished her coloration wasn't quite so dark so that she might inspire people to follow her as easily as her mother did. Her father had been born on one of the moons of Jupiter, so his dark indigo hair and darker red eyes contrasted sharply with his Martian wife, leaving many to wonder how the two warriors had found each other so many decades ago. Despite her rejection of every suitor who had ever contacted her, Rei often wondered how she would pick her own King when the time came, or if she even wanted to share her throne with a man.

Rikuriko glanced up as that thought passed through Rei's mind, her pink eyes alarmed. Cursing her mother's ability to read strong emotions, Rei restrained her thoughts and smiled warmly, trying to reassure the current Sailor Mars. Before the queen could speak, the doors to the throne room swung open, and a procession of guards led their guest onto the red carpet. Kazan looked up from his reports, interest in his red eyes, and even young Momoiro gave her full attention to the nubile young Venusian beauty as she approached the thrones.

Rei felt her mind begin to shut down as shock numbed her extremities. In her life she had only met a handful of Venusians, most of them men, and she had always been struck by how beautiful they all were. This woman, however, was on a level beyond them, clearly worthy of being the avatar of the Goddess of Love and Beauty, and it was clear from the way she carried herself that she _knew_ how gorgeous she was. Her long golden hair flowed across her shoulders and down her back like a waterfall of silk, lightly restrained by a series of opal chains and a delicate tiara declaring her station. Her lavender dress hugged her slender form from her shoulders to her waist, flaring out across her hips and brushing the blood-red carpet as she made her way to the throne. Delicately embroidered golden hearts covered the tight bodice, each embracing a tiny diamond that sparkled in the light of the chamber, the glitter effect enhancing the woman's beauty. Her baby blue eyes met Rei's startled amethyst ones, and the Martian felt her heart skip a beat. Her mind flew back to their single prior meeting when they were young children at the birth of Princess Serenity, and she wondered how such an adorable girl could have grown into this slender, breathtaking beauty.

Minako stopped at the foot of the dais, never showing any concern for the guards and armed nobility flanking her, gathering her soft skirt in her hands as she lowered herself into a perfect curtsy. "Queen Rikuriko and King Akaneiro of Mars, it is a great pleasure to visit you in your court."

"Princess Minako of Venus, we welcome you to our home. You have grown into a great beauty worthy of the planet of Aphrodite."

Minako smiled, her blue eyes dancing with joy. "Thank you, Majesty. I am honored to be the future Avatar of the Goddess of Love, and that is the purpose of my visit today. Early this morning, Venusian Standard, I performed the Ritual of Souls, and it was soon revealed to me that my soul mate has been born as a Martian. As per the ancient customs of my planet, I have traveled here to request permission to search for my partner among your people."

An old pain flashed in Rikuriko's pale eyes, and only Rei noticed the sadness in her mother's aura. Standing from her throne and calling attention to herself with that act, Rei bowed to the visiting princess. "As High Princess of Mars, it would be my pleasure to assist you in your search, Princess Minako. The ability of a Venusian to recognize soul mates is legendary on my planet, and we will be happy to unite you with your destined partner." She knew her reply would match her mother's, but speaking out instead of waiting for Rikuriko to recover from her grief would earn her a severe reprimand later. Kazan and Momoiro exchanged a worried look as the three children waited for their mother to respond to Rei's breach of protocol.

"My daughter's words are well-chosen. As High Princess, she will be the perfect person to assist you in your search. Rei's ladies-in-waiting will escort you to your chambers and she will send out a summons to all of the local nobility while you are getting settled in. The midday meal will be served in less than an hour, and you can begin your search when that is finished."

"Your Majesty is most kind. I look forward to sharing a meal with you shortly. I must admit that I have never tried traditional Martian cuisine." A calculated line, since, of course, her training as a princess included knowing the food and expected table manners of every other planet in the kingdom. Minako's use of the word _traditional_ let her place herself as a visitor to the planet that the Queen could impress, and Rei found herself mildly amused that a Venusian understood the politics of Mars enough to speak that sentence.

Rei grinned as she offered the traditional reply. "You'll find our food as fiery as our people and as satisfying as our hospitality."

Minako's smile was genuine as she locked eyes with the princess before a handful of ladies led her away to her rooms. As soon as the doors to the throne room closed behind her, Rei ascended three steps to her parents' thrones and took her mother's hand in hers. A question passed from her amethyst eyes to her mother's pink, and the older woman sighed as she turned to the small chamber behind her throne where they could speak privately. Akaneiro, gathering servants to draft messages to summon any young nobles in the area, ignored the pair as they shut the door behind them.

The small chamber boasted only a handful of plush chairs, giving it a cozy, informal feel. Very few people ever entered the chamber, but Rikuriko and her oldest daughter often used the room for private meetings that did not concern the rest of their family. Rei settled into her customary chair and watched her mother fidget across from her. "What is it, Mother?"

"Rei, there is something I have never told anyone before, but the arrival of Minako leads me to believe that you, at least, should know." She sighed and ran her fingers through her long hair, her pink eyes more serious than Rei had ever known them. "How long have you been practicing your premonitions in the flame?"

Rei shrugged. "Almost a year now. I'm told that my ability is very strong and very rare. My teachers have warned me that a gift such as mine could bring me pain."

"When I was your age, my powers were also quite strong. I looked into the fire daily, desperate to find my mate, and one day a blonde with pink eyes looked back at me." Rei raised one eyebrow, and Rikuriko nodded. "Not your father, I know. As a matter of fact, it wasn't even a man." The princess leaned forward at that, a strange eagerness filling her frame. Among the lowest nobility and commoners of every planet, certain men were attracted to and eventually married men, while certain women would marry women. Such pairings were highly frowned upon among nobility except in their youngest children, and it was strictly forbidden for a High Princess to marry a woman. While the official reason referenced their inability to breed the next Sailor Senshi for their world, Rei had always wondered if there was a deeper reason.

"Who was the blonde?"

"Minako's mother." Rikuriko gave her daughter a moment to absorb that before continuing. "Less than a week after I saw her in the flame, Asakaze came here just as Minako has, and announced the same thing. Her soul mate was a Martian. Oh, Rei, she was so beautiful, and I looked at her and loved her. She touched my hand and told me that our souls are bound, but we both knew that we could never be together. I helped her find a man who could love her and keep her happy, and she convinced her people that he was her soul mate. I married your father because it was required, and I do care for him deeply, but I would choose Asakaze if I could."

Rei shook her head in amazement and disbelief. "Are you worried that Minako is here searching for me? She said a Martian, not a Martian princess."

"If you touch her hand, Rei, and you feel a spark ignite inside you, then she is your soul mate and you will have to live with the pain of being separated from her. The day after I married your father, I went to Pluto to speak with Queen Setsuna. I demanded to know why I was forced to live apart from my soul mate. Setsuna is the oldest of us, and her connection with the Time Gate gives her abilities we can never understand. She told me that a Senshi's soul can never be bound to a man's. Our soul mates will always be women, and we will never be allowed to love them freely. We are cursed to solitude because of a prophecy that the love of two senshi will destroy the Silver Millennium."

"Mother, even if what you are saying is true, that is no guarantee that I am the one Minako has come for. In any case, she is our guest and I must help her in her search as I already promised to do."

Rikuriko nodded and took her daughter's hands in her own. "Promise me that you won't make my mistake. Don't spend too much time with her while she is here. Don't let yourself fall in love with her or you will suffer every time you see her with her king in the future. And, above all, don't touch her. A Venusian senses her soul mate through touch, and you cannot risk that."

"I won't," Rei promised casually, not truly believing in this concept of Venusian soul mates. Her world was far simpler than that. "I am far too involved in my warrior training to have time for a love life, in any case."

"Good. Let your swords protect your heart from the Venusian."

* * *

Rei sat with Minako on a small dais overlooking the training grounds as dozens of young men paired off and began to spar with each other. The small table between them held a variety of light snack foods and tea cups that two hovering servants kept full and hot. Her ladies-in-waiting were clustered around three other tables nearby, watching the fight and joking amongst themselves as they snacked on various pastries and traded palace gossip. They were the daughters and wives of prominent Martian nobles, their positions as Rei's closest friends giving them additional status and prestige at Court, most of them having been with her since childhood. They knew better than to interrupt their princess with her visitor; the redhead preferred a measure of solitude even with her entire court assembled around her. In that, she was her mother's child.

Rei raised an arm and pointed at the closest pair of battling men as the taller one stumbled, his opponent easily disarming him and forcing him to the ground. The men were fighting with their own weapons rather than practice swords, and the clang of metal filled the air. To her, it was the beautiful sound of battle, but she did worry that her gentle guest would not be so entranced. "He has a weak guard and no agility. In a true battle, he would die early. His opponent is also flawed. His reach is short but he insists on staying back from the struggle. They are both young and from minor families, so such defects are expected at this age. You will see him lose early in the next round."

"What about that pair?" All of the men fighting were Minako's suitors, and she was almost ashamed that watching them fight for her hand was exhilarating. As a daughter of the planet of Love, she should never have condoned this bloodsport, but clearly Rei's planet of war had certain traditions that it would never break, even for a visiting princess. She wondered if she was simply sensing Rei's enjoyment and echoing it, as her people were sometimes known to do. Her own father had come from this life, but he seemed so gentle now that he was the king of Venus. The pair she had pointed to finished their match within moments, the bulkier man leaving a deep, debilitating gash across his opponent's thigh that required the immediate attention of the hovering medics.

"Ah, Kuro relies on his strength far too much. He is a bully among his unit, and he only holds a position of power because his father is my cousin. One day I will be able to assign him to some insignificant and boring post far away from here, but at the moment he has a legitimate claim to be in this tournament. However, he will lose to someone very fast and smart within the next two rounds. His opponent, Jiishyo, did not want your hand, so he allowed the injury."

Minako spun back to face her host, blue eyes wide. "He didn't want me?"

Rei shrugged. "I have seen him fight much better than that, even against me. He wasn't trying today. I think I heard recently that he has his eye on the eldest daughter of Lord Irabai, High Lord of Phobos. Being in this contest will get him enough attention to approach her father, but he was not interested in winning your hand." Her amethyst eyes paled slightly as she scrutinized the blonde princess, focusing her power of premonition on the Venusian. "There is a kind of . . . magnetic aura around you. It invites people in, encourages them to love you. Is that normal for Venusians?"

"For the royal family, yes. I suppose it's some sort of mating pheromone, though it is much more irresistible to non-Venusians. I can't control it, and it does annoy me at times. We Venusians search for our soul mates from the day we become adults so that we can be rid of this attraction. I am not interested in calling every unmarried man to me for the rest of my life."

"It is not only the men who find you attractive." Rei cursed her slip as she heard the words leave her mouth, utterly unbidden. She covered quickly, somehow managing to keep a blush from staining her cheeks. "Many of my ladies-in-waiting were admiring you earlier." At least it was the truth, if not the entire truth.

Minako smiled, her joy encouraging even Rei to smile a little. "Well, it is not uncommon for Venusians to find their soul mate in someone of the same gender, but it never happens with royals. Mother told me that a princess must always have a husband to produce the next Sailor Venus, so of course our soul mates are always men. My father, who was born on Mars, hopes that I will make a good match among your noble sons."

Rei turned back to the fighting men thoughtfully. They had entered the third round after a very brief round two, and many of the remaining fighters were from a higher level of the aristocracy than their defeated opponents. "Or, perhaps the opposite is true. Perhaps the law prohibiting a princess from marrying a woman is precisely because a senshi's soul mate is always born in a woman and something terrible will happen if we are allowed to be with them." She didn't know what had encouraged her to voice her mother's words to the blonde princess, especially since she had convinced herself that this soul mate business wasn't nearly as intense as the Venusians let on.

"That can't be true, Rei. My mother's soul mate is my father, and Venusian queens have taken husbands for hundreds of years."

"But always husbands from other planets," Rei retorted, the argument with Minako drawing her attention from the fighting suitors. She hadn't meant to take the side of Hades's advocate, but she was starting to question the truth of Minako's beliefs. What if Rikuriko and Asakaze truly were soul mates? What future did that herald for her and the blue-eyed beauty sitting across the table? "What if each of your ancestors traveled to the planet they saw during their ritual and found that their mate was a woman, perhaps another future senshi, and they chose a compatible man to bring home instead in order to preserve the order of the Silver Millennium?"

Minako furrowed her brow. "I would hate for that to be the case. A Venusian without her soul mate would suffer every moment of every day of her life. Her own husband would have to notice that kind of unending pain."

"But a non-Venusian never would. Your father is from Mars, and we are not a planet of emotion and sentiment. There are things he might not ever see." She hesitated for a moment, but she felt like she Minako deserved to know what Rikuriko had revealed to her earlier. She lowered her voice, speaking in confidence, one princess to another, knowing that her servants and ladies had better manners than the eavesdrop. "My mother says that her soul mate was a young blonde princess by the name of Asakaze."

Minako's eyes widened in shock as she raised her hands in denial. "That can't be true, Rei! My mother would never abandon her soul mate and marry an imposter. There is no reason for her to choose that path!"

"She wouldn't do it to preserve her kingdom? To protect the Silver Millennium? She would do it for those reasons or she could never have become Sailor Venus."

Minako let her hands fall into her lap, blue eyes staring sadly across the practice grounds at the fighting men who had endured and were now entering the fourth round of combat. There were only six left, each group of three fighting furiously in their part of the practice ring. The single winner from each trio would fight for the title of champion of this impromptu battle. "I hope you are wrong, Rei," she whispered at last, baby blue eyes distant. "I do not want that future of loneliness."

"Neither do I. I hope that your mother is right and my mother just had some passing infatuation with her when they were our age. Who would be so cruel as to allow the rulers of the kingdoms of the Silver Millennium to never be with their soul mates?"

The two women were silent as a servant refilled their tea and placed a small platter of rare Martian Fire Berries on the table. Grinning, Rei grabbed a few of the small fruits and popped them in her mouth, hoping that a change of subject would lighten the mood. "We don't export these so I know that you have never tried them. Please, enjoy this delicacy of my planet."

Minako carefully chose a few berries, chewing them slowly so she could experience their full range of flavors. She knew that Rei was trying to distract her from thinking about her mother, and she was willing to let her. "They are oddly sweet but with an unexpected bite. I must admit, I've never had anything like this before."

"People have compared this fruit to the people of my planet. We have a hidden fire no matter how gentle our exterior."

"I believe it. I am glad that my soul mate is a Martian."

Rei stared at the princess cryptically as the fourth round of fighting finished and the Sword Master announced the final pair of combatants. Rei glanced back down at the field, frowning when she recognized Ishida, son of the Lord of Deimos and Akida, second son of her mother's youngest brother. Her ladies had begun to get excited, knowing that the fight between these two could be momentous, little knowing their princess's disapproval of both men. She did not approve of either of them vying for Minako's hand, despite the fact that the contest was just a show and the Venusian's gift of sensing her soul mate would be the final judge. Waving her hand at two armed guards standing nearby, Rei stood and led the men and her two most attentive ladies down the stairs and into the large building to one side of the sparring yards. Curious, Minako watched her go.

As Ishida and Akida began their final match, Rei emerged from the building, dressed in a skin-tight red and black suit that did nothing to hide her curves and everything to enhance her deadly aura. She carried two slender swords on her hip, knives visible on the outside of her boots and much smaller ones tucked into her bracers. Her long hair had been pulled up and braided, the style making it look much darker than its normal flame-red shade. Her amethyst eyes were hard and determined; the kind young woman who had befriended Minako was now a powerful warrior princess. As she emerged, her ladies returned to the stands.

She stepped into the ring where Ishida and Akira had just begun to fight, her stance daring anyone to object to her presence. As the High Princess and a Commander of the Royal Guard, she had a right to be anywhere she desired. Drawing her swords, Rei leapt into the middle of the fight, separating the men effortlessly and forcing them back into a defensive position. Realizing quickly that their only chance of victory was to band together, the men faced off against their princess, all of the laws that forbade them from harming her suspended in the arena. She was fair game, but it was clear from the first move that they were no match for her. Minako leaned forward in her seat and watched the battle breathlessly, wondering silently why this one contest interested her when none of the others had. Even the ladies had ceased their gossiping to focus on the outcome of this final battle.

Rei moved with a grace Minako envied, the princess dispelling all rumors in her mind that Martians were brutish, barbaric warriors. This warrior princess was a flame, lithe and untouchable, yet she burned anything that tried to destroy her. Ishida fell first, one of Rei's crimson swords pinning him to the ground through his shoulder, crying out in agony as the medics hovered nearby. Rei forced Akida away from the prone man, allowing the medics to remove him without interfering with her contest. From the blood on her sword and the few minor grazes Akida had scored, the cousins felt no love for each other. They were rivals in the eyes of the court, though Rei had never been able to force him into a fair fight before. Her single sword flashed in the sunlight, iron-heavy dust flying from under her feet as she dodged another attack and ducked under her cousin's guard to land a hit. Akida roared in fury at the slice across his lower ribs, ignoring both the blood and the pain as he moved to counterattack.

As warriors, Martians were only considered truly dangerous when they were injured. A bleeding Martian could force themself into a higher state of consciousness where the pain of their body would not be able to interfere with their objective. Akida clearly possessed that training and talent, but Rei had expected him to ignore the wound. Her own slight injuries did not bother her as she danced with her cousin across the hot sand, the faintest of red auras beginning to envelop her. Minako watched in awe as the heir to the Mars henshin stick unconsciously called on her planet's power to defeat her cousin, not even realizing what she was doing. The mark of a powerful senshi was the ability to call on the planetary power without words or conscious thought. It was a rare gift that Rei clearly possessed. The warriors raised their swords and rushed in for the kill, screaming Martian war oaths that Minako could not understand.

A moment later, as the dust slowly cleared, Minako realized that the vicious contest was over. Akida's sword lay a dozen feet behind him, one of Rei's long knives buried in his belly and the tip of her sword at his throat. As the bloodlust faded from his dark eyes, the shaking man bowed his head in surrender, a flock of desperate medics surrounding him and removing the sword from his gut so they could use their healing devices. Rei stepped back as the medics filled the yard, finally noticing the extent of her own injuries as one of the hovering, white-robed medics began to tend her wounds.

Rei looked up at Minako as the medic finished with her, slowly stepping away from her cousin and the other defeated nobles, her dark amethyst eyes calling the blonde to her. Unable to resist the silent summon, Minako stood from her chair and descended to the training ground, her pale blue eyes locked on the Martian princess. She took in the strength of her _champion_ as she passed the knot of defeated men gathered near the stairs leading to the dais, all of them silently glaring at the princess who had defeated Akida so easily. As Minako joined Rei in the center of the field, too far away for any of the nobles or medics to hear their conversation, the Princess of Mars fell to one knee and took Minako's hand in her own. Her lips turned up in an unrepentant smirk, she nodded her head at the defeated suitors. "Did you enjoy the show?"

"Immensely," Minako purred, almost surprised to find that she meant her words. Rei's dark eyes captivated her, calling to her soul, and she felt a strange tingle spread from their joined hands to her heart, exploding into a raging wildfire of red and gold passion that completely froze her thoughts. The moment faded as Rei released her hand in shock, the Martian falling back from her kneeling position with one hand on her heart and the other held before her in frightened denial. For that moment, nothing existed except for the two women staring at each other across the empty battlefield, both trying desperately to deny the bond pulsing between them. Rikuriko's words echoed in Rei's mind— _"And, above all, don't touch her"_ —but of course it was far too late.

"It's you," Minako realized, her shaking voice no more than a whisper. "Serenity save me, it's you. Oh, Rei . . . what will we do?"

* * *

TBC


	3. Martian Champion

**Chapter 3: Martian Champion**

* * *

_October 22, 8982_

* * *

The Martian forced herself to her feet, hesitantly reaching out to take Minako's hand again. When the bond flared back to life, she smiled and allowed herself a moment to bask in the feeling of love and belonging that washed over her. "For now, I think you should congratulate all of the participants as you had planned to do, then we will return to my palace and figure something else out from there."

Minako nodded and closed her eyes, calming her racing heart as she turned to the large group of men who had fought for the right to request her hand in marriage. Rei fell into step behind the Venusian as the group of men noticed the princess returning, quickly forming themselves into something that resembled a line. Rei barked a command at them in Martian, and the line instantly straightened, all of the men at perfect military attention despite the blood on their uniforms and the irritation in their eyes. "Princess Minako of Venus, may I introduce your suitors?"

Minako giggled at Rei's serious tone, bowing her head graciously as she reached the head of the line. "It is a pleasure to meet you all. Please, introduce yourself when I take your hand. As a Venusian, I will be able to identify my soul mate by touch."

Rei groaned to herself at the words, knowing that she should never have let Minako's hand meet hers, especially after her mother's warning. Would Rikuriko know that her daughter had disobeyed, that she had managed to make the same mistake that the queen had decades earlier? Part of the young Martian wished that she had refrained from making contact with Minako, or that they weren't soul mates and her mother's fears had been unfounded, but looking at the gorgeous blonde dispelled all of her internal struggle. If her soul had to be mated to someone, at least it had picked a perfect woman.

Minako started with Akida, who had technically taken second place in the contest, her blue eyes warm as the taller man took her hand. "I am Akida, Lord of Harumeya, second son of Prince Ryuu, youngest brother of Queen Rikuriko."

Minako held his hand for a moment, letting her face show disappointment that she did not feel as she released him. "You fought well, Lord Akida, but you were not born with the other half of my soul."

Ishida stood in the second position, his dusty-orange eyes full of self-importance and certainty. Martians valued strength above all else, and he thought that winning second place in the contest meant that he had a higher chance to be chosen as the Venusian's soul mate than any of his defeated opponents. Rei smirked as she watched him, eager to let Minako crush his sense of self-worth. "I am Ishida, only son of High Lord Abaraki of Deimos, future ruler of that moon, and it is an honor to have fought for your fair hand."

Minako smiled gently as she pulled away, shaking her head at the pompous young lord. "I am glad to have given you the honor of the fight, but I cannot offer you anything else. I am sorry, Lord Ishida."

The dark-haired man clenched his fists in fury, clearly having expected to win the contest and the throne of Venus in one afternoon. "How could you not choose me? I have the highest rank of anyone here and I would have won that fight fair and square if Rei had not interfered! I demand that you choose me!" He reached out and grabbed Minako's arm, earning a sharp gasp from the young princess and a swift kick to his sternum from his own ruler. With a shocked grunt, he fell to the ground, releasing the Venusian's arm.

Rei stood over Ishida, fury in her eyes as ribbons of red fire danced across her skin. "If you _ever_ dare to touch a Crown Princess in such a manner again, I will see to it that you are stripped of your title and your ability to father children and left to die in the Wastes. And I _never_ want to hear you speak so informally of me or any other Royal ever again. Do I make myself clear?" There was a darkness in her voice that frightened even the hardest of those men, and Ishida had the good sense to tremble as he nodded, eyes trained on the ground at Rei's booted feet.

"Forgive me for getting carried away. And please forgive my rude manner earlier, Your Highness. You are certainly the champion among us."

The rest of the participants greeted Minako cautiously, each aware of the red-haired champion flanking her who was perfectly willing and capable of punishing them. A few of the men, like Jiishyo, were visibly relieved when Minako rejected them, but most let their disappointment show. It would have been a great honor for any of them to marry a princess, let alone the High Princess of Venus, and Rei found herself envious of them for the first time in her life. If she had been born in a lower station, perhaps third daughter of a minor lord, at least she would be able to have herself appointed to Minako's harem, but as High Princess they were doomed to be separated.

By the time Minako had spoken with and rejected every suitor, the sun was sitting low on the horizon. Rei noticed that her new friend—her _soul mate_ —was exhausted, her aura dim and flickering. The poor blonde had been awake since dawn and had traveled to Mars after a strenuous ritual, so it was no wonder that she was barely able to stay on her feet. Minako stumbled while Rei was leading her back into the palace, but the Martian was standing close enough to catch her. "Are you alright?"

"I'm just tired," Minako whispered, her blue eyes paler than they had been when she entered the throne room hours earlier. "I was hoping I could rest before the evening meal." She was not interested in seeing any more false suitors now that she knew the terrible reality that she would eventually have to face.

"I understand," Rei whispered, waving one hand at a hovering servant. "Prepare Princess Minako's room. She will take a brief nap before supper. Assign five of my ladies in waiting and ten of my personal servants to her for the rest of her stay."

The servant nodded, dashing away, and Minako gratefully let Rei support her on the walk back to her room. "Forgive my weakness," she whispered.

"You are not weak, just tired. Even warriors are allowed to sleep." The Martian's voice danced with mirth, and the other princess managed to laugh as they reached her quarters. Rei released the blonde to her servants, bowing as she backed away. "We look forward to seeing you at supper, Princess Minako. Enjoy your rest."

"Thank you." They would have to talk later, but at the moment Minako couldn't think of anything other than the sleep she so desperately needed.

* * *

"How did the demonstration go?"

"It went well," Rei replied, playing with her knife as she stared at the empty table. Her father and brother were arguing emphatically about some report or another, while her sister was reading yet another marriage offer. "Ishida of Deimos and Akida of Harumeya were the final two combatants." She fervently hoped her mother would leave it at that, but Rikuriko knew her eldest daughter far too well.

"And who won, Rei?"

"I . . . I did."

"Rei!" Akaneiro glanced over at his wife's exclamation, raising one eyebrow. Rikuriko waved her hand in dismissal and pulled Rei closer, leaning close enough for only her daughter to hear her whisper. "Don't tell me you let your blood lust overcome you."

"I just didn't want one of them to win," the princess whispered, shame coloring her tones. "I interfered and defeated both of them. Minako named me her _champion_ before testing all of the suitors. None of them were compatible."

Rikuriko leaned back in her chair and regarded her daughter for a moment, watching Rei take a sip of her drink to calm her nerves. "Did you touch her?" The princess closed her eyes and looked away, clenching her free hand into a fist. She couldn't answer, but her words were not necessary. "And?"

Rei's head shot up, her brilliant amethyst eyes burning with a power Rikuriko barely remembered. Somewhere between fury and desperation, Rei grabbed the queen's hand and _sent_ all of her emotions and thoughts and confusion to her mother, leaving the older woman to sort out that mess.

" _Do you love her?"_

" _I barely know her,"_ Rei shot back telepathically, using her psychic powers in a manner that only a current or future Sailor Mars would ever be able to.

" _Then you must find her a suitable mate before you do. The faster you move, the less likely you will develop feelings that will cripple you when she leaves."_ Releasing Rei's hand, Rikuriko closed her pink eyes and forced back her tears. "You will do your duty for the sake of Venus and Mars." It was a command from a monarch to her subject, and it was not an order the princess could disobey.

"Of course I will," she choked out, sighing in relief as a herald announced the arrival of Minako to the dinner table. The fiery princess straightened as her beautiful blonde soul mate entered the chamber, adorned in a dress of golden silk with orange accents and strings of fire opals in her loose hair. Her blue eyes danced with joy to see Rei again, and the princess knew that distancing herself from the Venusian might well be impossible. She rose from her seat, hearing her family follow her lead, as she offered their guest a polite bow.

"We are honored to have you join us for this meal."

Minako lightly grasped the sides of her skirt and offered the princess a perfect curtsy, her pale eyes taking in Rei's dark purple dress adorned with pale amethysts and rubies, flashing the other princess an approving smile. "Now that I am no longer so exhausted, I can appreciate your cuisine all the more. I thank all of you for the kind welcome I have received here on Mars."

The Venusian made a point to take Kazan's hand, holding it for a moment before shaking her head sadly and taking her seat. The servants began to deliver the meal, standing back as the royal family and their guest enjoyed the repast. Rei was careful to avoid looking at Minako or getting close enough to touch her, worried that her mother would think she was intentionally breaking the laws of the Silver Millennium, and Minako let herself flirt with all of the royals, showing her Venusian charm. Even Rikuriko managed to blush at one or two of the blonde's insinuations, and Momoiro spent the entire meal paying attention to their guest instead of reading her marriage proposals. By the time the meal was over, the Martian family had accepted Minako, welcoming her into their home with their hearts and not just their formality.

"How are you so good at that?"

"At what?" Minako looked sideways at her guide as Rei posed the question, the pair strolling through the private Royal Gardens on the way to the guest rooms after the meal was concluded. For the first time all day, they were completely alone.

"Charming people."

"Venus is a planet of love and beauty, and we will give and receive both as often as possible. Flirting is almost a second language for us, and if you heard my native tongue you might understand. In Venusian, I could seduce you in less than five words."

Rei snorted. "Hardly."

Minako grabbed the taller woman's arm and spun her around, letting her pale blue eyes captivate the Martian for a moment. _"Laorisa hainan'ha yo'usehnah."_ Rei felt a rush of heat fill her frame, the underlying desire she had felt for the smaller woman flaring up out of control and begging her to lean forward and claim Minako's soft lips for her own. The blonde grinned and touched two slender fingers to Rei's lips, breaking the spell. "See?"

"What did you say? I lost all control . . . and for a Commander of the Royal Guard, that is not a sentence I have ever uttered before in my life."

Minako shrugged as the pair resumed their walk to her room. "There is a power in every language, Rei. You know that Lunarian has the power to bind the soul, Uranian has the power to force a weakness, and Neptunian has the power to expose gentleness. Your own language has the power to strike fear in an enemy or entice a friend to greater heights of power in a time of need. Well Venusian has the power to influence emotions. If I speak a sentence harshly, with anger in my tone, you will become angry. All I said was, _'your eyes glow like gems in this light'_ , but you responded to the desire in my voice. That is the power of my language."

"Do you desire me?"

The question silenced the blonde as the pair entered her guest quarters, thankfully free of servants and ladies for the moment. Rei walked over to the covered balcony and stepped outside, her eyes focused on the harsh Martian landscape as the night creatures began to call. She waited for Minako's answer, unsure what she herself would say if posed the same question, knowing that she should leave and not tempt herself.

"Yes."

The word hung between the princesses, giving each of them the opportunity to reply or ignore it, both knowing that the conversation had taken a dangerous turn. They could never dare become lovers, could never become close, but would they be able to remain friends with that passion pulsing unanswered between them?

"You shouldn't," Rei finally replied as her hands tightened on the balcony railing, forcing herself to contain her emotions. "Perhaps we should talk about something else for now. Tell me about the powers you will have as Sailor Venus." That seemed like a safe enough subject.

"Sure," Minako agreed, her cheerful voice unencumbered by her own turbulent emotions. Rei turned and smiled, joining the other princess on her plush couch and indicating that she should begin. "You know that my talisman is the Love Me Chain, but, like every other senshi, I have a secondary power. For Mercury, water and ice are her element, but her brilliance will always be her secondary power, giving her the ability to strategize in seconds and formulate plans that will allow her more offensive partners to decimate the enemy. For you, with fire as your element, your psychic ability and connection with the gods gives you an edge over most enemies and lets you see intent before your oppenent ever attacks. The senshi of Jupiter has lightning as her element and greatly enhanced physical strength as her secondary power.

"Sailor Saturn has the scythe and the powers of destruction and ruin, but her secondary power is _knowing_ when she has to destroy in order to protect everyone. It is the power that frightens me the most, and I am glad that she is almost never called upon. Sailor Uranus has the power of the wind at her fingertips, and her speed and agility are her secondary power. I admit I have never seen that power in action since there is no current Sailor Uranus, but I imagine she could move faster than we could blink. Sailor Neptune has the power of the sea, and her mirror gives her the ability to see things that we cannot. It is not the same as your power, and sometimes the mirror has shown Sailor Neptune things she _must_ see whether she wants to or not. She is certainly our best defense against enemies from outside the Solar System. Pluto has the power of death and time, and she has the ability to touch someone and see their future and their destiny. I am told that she also might have the ability to change her own appearance or alter someone's memories, but those are probably just rumors stemming from her habitual solitude."

"And you?"

Minako looked down at her hands nervously. The edge in the other princess's tone warned Minako that the question was not casual. Rei needed to know her power because she was afraid of the bond building between them. Nothing Minako could say would make this inevitable conversation any easier. "I have the power to project my emotions on everyone nearby." She sensed Rei tense up beside her, and she sighed as the Martian clenched her fists.

"Is that what you have been doing to me? Projecting your emotions on me? Making me feel things that I never asked for and can't understand?"

"No, Rei, listen to me, please. I can't do it yet, and even if I could I would never do it in peace times. It's a power that makes Sailor Venus the leader, since I can project my confidence or fury to everyone else. My strength becomes your strength, and the team fights better because of it. Not only that, but my love and devotion for the princess will inspire the team to follow and protect her. I can even use that power to force someone to believe that I _am_ the princess, drawing the enemy away so the princess is always safe. As Sailor Venus, it is my job to not only train you and protect her, but also to sometimes act as her decoy. My power is the most useful in that situation."

Rei's voice was softer when she finally spoke again. "So everything I feel . . . it's just me? When I look at you . . . am I supposed to be so confused?"

"Can't you identify it?"

"Martians are trained to hide their emotions and anything else that would make us weak on the battlefield. In some ways, we are the opposite of you. We are expected to marry for advantage and learn to live with that person in peace afterwards. You are expected to find your soul mate and live with whatever failings they have afterwards."

Minako reached over and took one of Rei's tense hands in hers, smiling as the fiery princess looked up at her. The bond between them, which had been simmering all afternoon, began to glow in her heart again. It wasn't as overwhelming now, just comfortable and warm. She didn't know how she could learn to live without this bond. "We are trained to love, and you are trained to fight. But don't think that I am weaker than you because I fight for what I love; that's a strength by itself. When love is your motivation, your own abilities can be enhanced beyond what you thought possible. All senshi are trained to love the princess and she will always love us unconditionally, and that is when we are the most powerful. Hopefully, I can help you understand that while I am here."

"Perhaps. But my mother knows that you are my soul mate and she wants me to find you a suitable mate as soon as possible. I don't know how much time we will possibly have."

"It will be enough." Minako reached up and ran her fingers through Rei's crimson hair, smiling as the Martian leaned into the caress. As a warrior, how often had anyone touched her gently? "You should go get some rest. You will have another pack of eager suitors to defeat in my name tomorrow, _my champion_."

Rei smiled and stood from the couch, hesitantly leaning forward and kissing Minako on the cheek. "You and I might have to marry men someday, but I think someone as clever as you could devise a way for us to be together even afterwards." Hope sparkled in the depths of her amethyst orbs, and Minako found herself wondering if she could, indeed, think of some way to be with the future Sailor Mars.

* * *

Spring on the largest moon of Jupiter was always a dismal affair. Under the yellow light of the artificial sun, the plants on Io struggled to survive after a harsh, dusty winter, the tall trees reaching for the glowing gas giant floating serenely overhead. Makoto loved the early mornings in spring, walking slowly among the desperate plants and whispering words of comfort to them. When summer started, Io warmed considerable and the plants would explode into verdant growth as if to forget their humble beginnings. The princess liked to believe that her encouragement in the spring helped them.

"Are you out here talking to your plants again?"

Makoto looked up from the _ascjira_ plant she had been singing to, brushing her long green ponytail over her shoulder. "Possibly. Is Father ready for the assignments?"

Her oldest brother, a tall Jovian with dark blue hair and muddy green eyes, smiled as he nodded. "All four of us have been assigned to a Mercurian study ship that will travel through the system to sample various plants from every planet. We will be protecting the royals on board. The trip is expected to take two or three standard months, then you will return here and challenge Mother for her henshin stick."

Makoto nodded, her emerald eyes worried. "I know that Mother thinks I am ready to be Sailor Jupiter, but I don't know if I want to go away and train on the Moon just yet."

"Hopefully you will be ready after this tour of duty. Eiki and Saiki are waiting for us in the throne room, so we need to be going."

"Alright, Ken'nin, I'm ready."

* * *

Makoto and Ken'nin entered the throne room of Io Palace, the princess nearly as tall as her brother, and the nobles gathered near the throne stood at attention. Their parents sat calmly on their thrones, smiling as all four of their children gathered at the base of their dais. The Queen and current Sailor Jupiter, Meika, had the same rich green hair as her second son, Eiki, and eyes only a few shades lighter than Makoto's. Her husband, Meisha, had been born on Neptune and displayed the characteristic aqua hair of his planet. His ice green eyes met Makoto as she stopped beside her brothers.

"So glad you could join us."

"I was in the garden," Makoto replied, grinning at her father. "Ken'nin explained the assignment to me a few minutes ago."

"Good, then I have less to do. The ship will begin its tour on Pluto and work its way back to Mercury. With the current planetary alignment, this mission should only take two or three months. You will be guarding the five royals who are conducting this experiment. I have no idea what they think they needed to be guarded from, but Queen Amami requested Jovian guards, and I offered the lot of you." Despite his dismissive tone, the four knew that it was a great honor for a Jovian to be offered as bodyguards for off-world nobles. Their prowess in unarmed combat was unmatched in the Silver Millennium, and their fame as inconspicuous guards was of immeasurable benefit to nobles who did not want to be noticed.

"Which royals?"

Meisha shrugged and glanced down at his data screen, his ice green eyes scanning through the information. "It looks like the research team consists of Duke Jurin, Duchess Haname, Duchess Lilia, Lord Kounin, and High Princess Ami."

"The High Princess is going on a research mission? Don't they normally leave that sort of work to dukes and lords?"

"I suppose so, Saiki, but the High Princess is studying for the final test to receive her henshin stick and she has chosen this research mission. You might as well make friends with her, Makoto; she will be joining you on the Moon for Sailor Senshi training in only a few months."

* * *

"I don't understand why your mother thinks we need security on a diplomatic mission to study the botanical riches of the planets. There should be nothing to protect from."

"I know, Lilia, but my mother leaves nothing to chance. Besides, she tells me that the princess of Jupiter needs a guard assignment before she can accept her henshin stick. Apparently protecting another princess is the highest honor."

"We are landing, ladies, if you would like to prepare yourselves to meet your guards for this mission." The deep voice of Duke Jurin, the pilot of their ship, filled the small lounge, and Princess Ami smiled and bowed her head.

"I believe we should obey your husband, Haname. He's not pleased that Mother assigned us guards for such a simple botanical study."

Haname smiled and ran her long fingers through her silver blue hair, gathering her data crystals and arranging them neatly in their case before leading Ami and Lilia to the door. They paused for a moment as the small ship landed on Io with a faint shudder, then Jurin and his cousin Kounin appeared in the doorway and led them to the airlock.

The other four Mercurians paused respectfully and let Ami step down from the ship first, the young princess raising one hand to shield her sapphire eyes from the brilliance of the simulated sunlight beating down on the parched landscape before her. As her eyes adjusted to the light, she noted two lines of guards dressed in rust brown and forest green flanking a paved walkway leading from the private landing pad to the palace proper. The dry landscape seemed incapable of supporting life, despite the plants struggling toward the light on the edges of the field, and she wondered for a moment if there would be anything to study when she reached Jupiter on her trip.

"There is never much to see in spring," a surprisingly strong female voice announced from the direction of the palace, as if in answer to Ami's mental query. Three tall men and an equally tall woman approached the ship, their regal birth evident in their stride. The woman smiled and bowed to Ami, her lightly armored suit lacking the skirt required for a curtsy, her emerald eyes meeting the Mercurian's as she stood. "When you return in the summer, everything will be in full bloom."

"I believe that our schedule will have us back here by Ganymede's summer," Ami replied smoothly, smiling as her Jovian equal glanced at the small ship and the four nobles slowly emerging behind Ami. "I am told that you have been assigned to join our expedition?"

"In a protective capacity only," the tallest of the men answered. "I am Ken'nin, High Prince of Jupiter. These are my brothers Eiki and Saiki."

"I am Makoto, High Princess of Jupiter. You must be High Princess Ami."

Ami nodded, already warming to the tall green-haired Jovian princess. "I am. How did you know?"

"Your mother visits here at least twice a year, and you look just like her."

Ami was a little surprised at that. It made sense for the queens to visit each other for diplomatic functions and perhaps even to train as Sailor Senshi, but she didn't know that her mother came to Jupiter so often. "Of course, that makes sense. Well, allow me to introduce my companions. This is Duke Jurin of Mintara and his wife, Haname, and this is Jurin's cousin Lord Kounin of Gaoren."

"And I am Lilia, Duchess of Urawa, daughter of Queen Amami's sister, Princess Ria." Lilia stepped forward to introduce herself, her silver eyes sparkling with interest as the Jovian Princess took her hand. "If we must have guards, at least you are all pleasing to look upon."

Kounin sighed and grabbed Lilia's free hand, pulling the flirtatious Duchess back into the ship as Jurin sighed and shook his head. "Forgive my cousin's forwardness. She never fails to flirt, no matter how inappropriate the situation. Despite my aunt's best efforts, Lilia remains single and often an embarrassment on long assignments."

"I find her attitude refreshing," Makoto countered, following the three Mercurians back onto their ship as a flock of her servants loaded the vessel with sufficient supplies for the nine men and women to complete their journey without needing to restock again. "Most Jovians don't have the courage to even look at my brothers or myself, let alone flirt with us. I was worried that this journey would be all science and formality."

"Not with Lilia and Haname around," Ami chuckled, showing the new passengers to the guest cabins. "Jurin and Haname have this room, and this one is Kourin's. If one of you could bunk with him, the other two can have the room across the hall." Ken'nin and Saiki nodded and entered the empty chamber, gesturing for the trailing servants to bring what few belongings they were taking, while Eiki followed Kourin into his room. Ami led Makoto to a slightly larger room at the end of the corridor, pointing at the single empty alcove. "Lilia and I share this room, but there are three beds if you don't mind bunking with us."

"Of course I don't mind." Makoto grinned as she tossed her small bag onto the empty bed and turned to her charge. "This is amazing. I've never been on a ship so small that I had to share a room with anyone. Your research vessels are incredibly efficient."

"We don't believe in wasting space or resources. Even Mother's flagship is cramped compared to the other flagships I have seen." Ami regarded the taller Jovian for a moment, sensing that the other woman was genuinely pleased with the accommodations. "I must admit that I thought you would be upset with the cramped space."

Makoto shook her head as she turned to rummage through her bag, removing a small arsenal of weapons before choosing a few discrete ones to wear and readjusting her armor. "It's so much nicer than having huge, echoing corridors filled with servants and guards just to hop from Ganymede to Pluto on some minor diplomatic visit. This is more . . . intimate."

"That's the word Lilia used. You two will get along well, I think."

"Well, I'm here to guard you, Princess, so I'm most concerned about you and me getting along. To that effect, my brothers and I need to set up a duty roster. How long is the trip to Pluto?"

Ami reached into her pocket and produced a small computer, tapping a few keys and nodding as the result of her query scrolled across the screen. "The cargo ship that brought us here will carry us to Pluto in less than two weeks, then we will be on our own to get back. We have much smaller engines than the cargo ship, so we will take at least thirteen weeks to stop on every planet and major moon on the way back to Mercury." She hoped Makoto would not wonder why they had booked passage with a slow cargo ship instead of taking one of her planet's courier vessels. Mercurians were efficient, and her mother did not want to waste one of her fast ships for a research mission that was already going to take months. It made more sense for them to ride with a ship already going to the edge of the solar system.

Makoto did not seem to care at all. "Very well, I will make the duty roster based on that." Makoto offered a quick bow and marched out, her boots ringing on the floor and her voice echoing as she called for her brothers. Ami stared after her, oddly entranced by the green-haired warrior, listening as the four Jovians began to argue about guard rotations and security precautions.

"Well, it looks like my cousin Ami finally has a crush."

"A what?" Ami spun to glare at Lilia, sapphire eyes narrowed in confusion. "I don't have a crush on anyone."

"I see the way you're watching Makoto. I would never have pegged you for someone who liked busty women, however."

"Busty?" Ami blushed and turned away from her cousin, fiddling with her computer to hide her embarrassment. "I wasn't looking at that."

Lilia grinned as she pulled the pins out of her silky black hair, tossing them on the dresser beside her bed before grabbing her brush. She watched Ami out of one sparkling silver eye as she continued to tease her blue-haired cousin. "At least you picked an attractive one. I can limit myself to the boys if you want to go for it with the princess."

"Lilia! You know that princesses are not allowed to marry other women."

"Who said anything about marrying her? We're on a three-month journey with the Jovians and I have never seen you take any kind of interest in anyone before, man or woman. There's nothing stopping you two from enjoying this trip together." She separated her hair into three sections and began to braid it as she measured her cousin's response to her teasing. "You can, at least, admit that you find her attractive?"

Ami looked up from her blank computer screen, staring at her cousin before looking back into the hallway. Makoto had just crossed her arms over her—as Lilia had pointed out, rather large—chest as she stared her youngest brother down, the other two having already agreed to whatever she wanted. Saiki sighed and raised his hands in defeat, walking toward the bridge and leaving the green-haired woman leaning against the wall alone. She turned at that instant, catching Ami's eye and winking before she sauntered off after her siblings.

Damn she had a cute ass.

"Oh Serenity," Ami whispered, mortified. "I do find her attractive."

"And I thought this trip was going to be dull."

* * *

TBC


	4. Dark Omens

**Chapter 4: Dark Omens**

* * *

_January 20, 8983_

* * *

Pluto had always been a planet of silence. It was too far from the sun to consider itself truly a part of the Solar System, with an orbit too unstable to allow for recognizable seasons. They used artificial solar energy reactors, like all of the planets beyond the asteroid belt, but not much would grow on the tiny planet. The people tended to be quiet and serious, determined to live their lives in peaceful isolation away from the loud passions of the inner eight planets. Their queen would not have it any other way.

Charon Castle had been built nearly ten thousand years earlier, as a dark retreat for the child of Hades, crafted from obsidian with deep garnet depths. The Pluto Royal family had always lived there, watching the Time Gate and protecting the Solar System from outside threats. Setsuna sat on her high throne, only her garnet eyes moving as readings from the Time Gate scrolled through the air before her. No less than fifty of her servants hovered around the gate at any given time, taking readings and monitoring the stability of the time stream. As mortals, they could never hope to understand what they were seeing, but without them and their machines Setsuna would have to actively guard the Time Gate as Sailor Pluto without time for sleeping, eating, or socializing. At one point, before she started letting herself die and be reborn into her own Pluto Royal Line, she had done just that, reveling in the solitude of the endless Time Streams. After so many lifetimes and so many friends among the royals of the other planets, she could no longer let herself live completely alone.

She leaned forward and touched the air before her, pausing a set of disturbing readings. She watched as the previously smooth time stream rippled, the future unraveling before her very eyes. "Monitor Time Stream A17 and iterations 4S-25 through 4V-12. Give me historical data back ten thousand years and forward ten thousand on those strings."

Her orders were obeyed silently, and she leaned back into the comfort of her throne, wondering how long she would be able to wait before she had to transform into Sailor Pluto and search the Time Stream herself. She hated having to do that, because she always ended up watching her own painful past every time she had to locate and correct a disturbance. She watched as her screen highlighted the selected disturbance, focusing on a single knot in the time stream. The analysis indicated that an important event would happen soon, something she must prevent in order to preserve the future. Reaching out with one gloved hand, the black-robed Queen prepared to summon her Time Key.

"Your Majesty, a missive has arrived from Saturn. The Queen requests your presence."

Setsuna paused as the servant waited patiently at the foot of her throne, his head bowed. The Saturn Royal Family consisted of mortals, one daughter in each generation carrying the ability to become Sailor Saturn if the need were ever to arise. It was impossible to know which princess could be called until that tragic moment arrived. In the strictest sense, they were not the same as the other Senshi, and Sailor Saturn never fought with her peers since her only power was to destroy a world too corrupted by dark power. In Setsuna's lives as Sailor Pluto, she had seen only seen the rise of seven young Sailor Saturns, and each had sacrificed herself to destroy a threat the other Senshi were not able to fight. The people of Saturn rarely communicated with outsiders, and the Queen would never summon Pluto without an urgent reason.

"Prepare my ship."

"Forgive me, Great Queen, but her missive said that you must arrive immediately. A ship would be too slow."

"I see. Everyone, continue to track that knot in the time stream and have full reports ready for me when I return." Setsuna stood and summoned her staff, letting her Sailor Pluto transformation wash over her as she closed her eyes and focused on Titan Castle and Queen Yumemi. An instant later, the Queen of Setsuna was gone.

* * *

"Thank you for coming on such short notice." Queen Yumemi's black eyes were filled with a worry Setsuna had never seen from the woman before, her hesitation concerning the outermost senshi. "There is a problem."

"What problem?" Setsuna had changed back into her civilian form, her long black dress trailing behind her as she followed the purple-haired queen through Titan Castle. "I was examining a knot in the space-time continuum when you called me."

"This is more important than that. It may even be the cause." They reached the Royal Wing of the palace, Yumemi pausing with one hand resting on the door to her daughter's room. "I feel like I failed as Queen, since Otou noticed her condition first." She pushed the door open and ushered Setsuna inside.

A small girl, probably no older than twelve, slept peacefully in the purple bed, her short hair spread in a halo around her peaceful face. For a moment, Setsuna had no idea what she was looking at, but when she moved closer she understood. "It can't be."

"It can't be anything else," Yumemi countered, her voice barely a whisper. "She's too young, Setsuna. Hotaru is the only child I have, and if she dies my line will end."

"I must find a way to stop this. Yumemi, summon a full Council to convene here within the month. I have prevented the rise of two Sailor Saturns and I believe I can prevent this as long as I understand why she is being called. Are the henshin stick and talisman still locked in the armory?"

"Of course. She has never touched them or seen them."

"Good. It will delay this change. Come, we must prepare."

As the two queens left the sleeping child, the last ray of light from the doorway revealed the purple symbol of Saturn pulsing faintly on Hotaru's forehead.

* * *

Silence. Recently, it was all the woman craved. She leaned against the wall of her tiny fortress, short blonde hair teased by the artificial wind, an invisible dome overhead granting her air and allowing her peace. The small building held a bed, a piano, and an array of weapons, but nothing to remind her of her own palace, her tutors, and her overbearing yet distant father. He was everything to her, but she was less than nothing to him. Until she married as he decreed, he would never pass her the Crown, and until he gave her that she would never be allowed to take her rightful place as Sailor Uranus.

Furious, she closed her emerald eyes and slammed her hand into the pillar she had been leaning against, cursing her impulsive move as her knuckles screamed in pain. She ran the fingers of her uninjured hand through her hair before smoothing her suit and turning back to her piano. Alone on Miranda, without her guards and servants following her and her father pestering her, the princess was able to dress in the suits she preferred, play her piano, and practice her swordplay in peace. She was not interested in being a lady, she was not interested in marrying a noble man, and ever since her father had reassigned her ladies in waiting she did not even have an outlet for her sexual frustration. All she had left was this moon, this retreat, and the silence. If she could have spent time with the War Queens or their families, she might better understand her future, but her father did not allow such relationships.

"So this is where you are hiding."

Haruka spun on one booted foot, her hands raised in a defensive stance as her emerald eyes analyzed her enemy. The tall woman with long, dark green hair stared at her with amused garnet eyes until the princess lowered her hands and stepped forward politely, inclining her head in a greeting among equals. "I remember you from Serenity's presentation." Her husky voice, another trait her father considered too masculine for a queen, carried a hint of uncertainty, but she remembered the woman who had befriended her all those years ago.

"Correct. I am Setsuna, Queen of Pluto." The woman was dressed in black and garnet, as she had been all those years earlier, but there was a sense of urgency in her stance that had not been present before.

"Why are you here? How did you find me? My castle is on Oberon and our major cities are spread across Titania, Ariel, and Umbriel. No one would think to look here for a princess of Uranus."

"And that is how I knew that you would choose this moon for your retreat. Your mother once spent time here, as well."

Haruka's eyes widened at the mention of the woman she looked so much like, a woman she desperately missed even though they had never met. "You knew my mother?" She knew the answer, of course. All of the queens had known each other, had grown up together, and had spent years as senshi fighting side-by-side against any threat to the Silver Millennium. Still, it seemed like the right question to ask.

"She was my friend. When she was your age, she was also restless. It is a common trait for the princess of Uranus to emulate the wind that is her power. You want to be free, to explore the solar system and find your true self."

"I do."

Setsuna waved her hand, smiling as the henshin stick of Uranus and the Space Sword appeared in the air before her. "Then I have an offer for you. I made the same offer to your mother, so long ago. Take these and leave. The henshin stick will give you the power to teleport wherever you want, and you can go see the other worlds, meet the other royals, and decide what your place should be in the Silver Millennium."

Haruka had never in her life been offered anything for free, with no strings attached, and she sensed that Setsuna needed something from her. "What do you want in return?"

"In a month's time, there will be a Full Council on Titan. We have an important situation to discuss among the rulers of the planets. Your father will never believe you are ready to be queen, so you must show him that you are. Be at the meeting."

Haruka reached for the Space Sword and henshin stick, pausing with her fingers inches from brushing them. "I will never be the lady he wants. I will never wear dresses, or act like a girl, or happily marry some man to preserve my line."

"No, I imagine that you will not. But you will be strong, and you will fight, and you will protect the princess and this Solar System as you promised on that day so long ago."

" _Yes._ "The word bound her, as the Lunarian she had spoken as a child would bind her for all eternity.

"Then take these, and go. Be on Titan when I need you."

Haruka nodded and grabbed her sword and henshin stick, raising her hand to the sky and calling out her transformation. She glanced at her skin-tight uniform and skirt, at the only armor she would ever wear that made her look like a woman, and grimaced before she vanished. Setsuna stared at the empty fortress, pulling a small computer from the same pocket of time that held her staff, glaring at the screen. Reports from Pluto scrolled across the screen, the knot in time noticeably smaller across seventeen iterations.

Perhaps the future could be saved after all.

* * *

Meika had been born to be a warrior. As the Queen of Jupiter, it was the only life she had ever known. Warriors were not known for being sentimental, but the green-haired Jovian found herself sitting at her retreat on Europa, far from the huge, loud cities of Ganymede, Io, and Callisto, staring at images of her beloved from years before. They had taken time away from their planets two times a year since their training days on the Moon, meeting on Europa and spending as much time together as possible. But Amami had stopped visiting years earlier, determined to focus on her daughter's education and to stop "cavorting around like love-sick teenagers". Her callous words still stung, but Meika wanted nothing more than to have her Mercurian princess back again.

"I thought you would be here."

"Amami!"

The shorter woman smiled as she reached out to take Meika's hand, the Jovian pulling her shy lover close enough for a gentle kiss. Amami pulled away reluctantly, a blush staining her cheeks, letting her love for the taller woman shine from her ice blue eyes. Meika was always amazed that she still blushed after all this time. "I came to bring you a message, but I realize now how much I've missed seeing you."

Meika rested her chin on the top of Amami's head, letting the Mercurian's familiar, beloved scent wash over her. "What message?"

"We have been summoned to a Full Council on Titan. Pluto is summoning us."

"That's bad," Meika whispered.

"Yes. I just . . . I wanted to spend a little time with you before the council meeting."

Meika smiled in agreement. "I would like that. I have missed you, Amami."

"I know. I was a little surprised to find you here today instead of attending your court."

"I have had quite a bit of free time recently with all of my children away guarding your daughter. In a month, they will return, and Makoto will finally be ready to challenge me for her henshin stick."

"Yes, and I am planning to hand mine over to Ami. The meeting is just after that. We will pass our powers and go to the meeting. If there is a new, powerful threat that Pluto has discovered, then perhaps new senshi are needed to fight it."

* * *

Minako leaned against the balcony railing of her assigned room, staring at Mars floating overhead. The rust-red planet seemed to mock her, refusing to give her a man worth marrying, instead offering only a crimson-haired beauty she could never have. Deimos had not offered any suitable candidates either, and the blonde's month was way past up. She had been on Mars for three times as long as she had planned, and her mother had finally summoned her home. She and Rei had only grown closer over time, regardless of their own increasingly futile efforts to remain distant from each other. Rei had continued to be her champion, defeating hundreds of men who desired Minako's hand, and it had become more and more difficult to pretend to search for her soul mate. As a Venusian, she only desired one thing, and now that she knew that Rei was her destined partner, not having the woman was tearing her apart.

" _It's not fair,"_ she whispered in her native tongue, unable to contain her grief as tears leaked from her darkening blue eyes.

"Don't cry, my love." Rei appeared behind the Venusian, wrapping her warm arms around the blonde and holding her until her tears dried. She was only a couple of inches taller than her soul mate, but she had started wearing heels when they spent time together in order to emphasize her height. "I have been doing a little research, Minako. Did you know that your mother goes on a retreat two or three times every year?"

Minako nodded. "Yes. She is usually gone for a couple of weeks. She says that she goes to converse with some of the other queens and to train."

"Did you know that my mother also goes on a retreat multiple times a year, and that the time frame is always the same as Asakaze's?"

Minako's shocked eyes flew up to meet Rei's calm amethyst orbs. "No way. They go together? They spend time together?"

"Every year. Minako, such behavior is common among the queens. These trysts have been happening for thousands of years. If our soul mates are always women and we are not allowed to be with them, perhaps our mothers have the right plan." Her fingers tightened on Minako's shoulders, her hope evident in that action.

"Could you be happy only seeing me three times a year?"

"I can't be happy never seeing you," Rei countered, turning Minako to face her. She wiped the remnants of Minako's tears away with her thumb, smiling as the blonde leaned into the caress. When they were together, touching, she could _feel_ the bond between them. It felt natural, perfect, and she never wanted to lose it. One moment they were standing there, staring into each other's eyes, and the next moment they were kissing like they would never see each other again. Rei had no idea which of them had moved first, but Minako was in her arms and everything felt perfect. The only thing she had wanted since taking the Venusian's hand that first day had been to kiss her, and now with the passion flaring up between them, she wanted more.

"Rei, we can't," Minako whispered, running her fingers through Rei's hair as the Martian began to untie the laces on the back of her dress.

The Martian paused, lust darkening her purple eyes as she raised them to meet Minako's. "Tell me to stop," she growled, knowing what it would cost her to obey, but certain that she could leave if the Venusian told her to.

Minako's fingers tightened in Rei's crimson tresses, but she could never push her soul mate away. She just shook her head, admitting that she wanted this as much as her partner did. She shivered as her dress fell to the floor, Rei's fingers leaving trails of fire across her skin. "Please, don't start something we can't finish. I can barely control myself around you as it is."

Rei pulled back and looked down at the blonde, her sheer shift hiding nothing from the Martian's burning gaze. "Do you know how beautiful you are?" Minako looked away and blushed, Rei's hand under her chin forcing her to look back up. "I never start anything I can't finish," she purred, leaning down to gently bite the blonde's neck. "You claim to be the future avatar of love and beauty; show me what you've got."

The challenge in the Martian's voice dispelled the last of Minako's trepidation, her eyes flashing in the dim light. _"Bad idea to challenge a Venusian,"_ she whispered in her native tongue, lowering her hands on Rei's chest and pushing her backwards.

" _Maybe it's a great idea,_ " the Martian retorted, her words oddly accented but clearly Venusian, and her emotions washed over Minako with her words.

" _When did you learn my language?_ "

Rei smiled as the back of her legs hit the large bed in Minako's room, the slender blonde releasing the jeweled shoulder clasps holding up the Martian's dress. " _It's easier to speak to you this way. I can show you what I feel even when I can't always say it._ "

"You learn fast." Minako squealed as Rei reversed their positions, pushing the blonde onto the bed and leaning over her, caging the other woman with her arms. The Venusian reached up and ran her fingers over the muscles in the Martian's arms, a predatory gleam in her pale blue eyes. "Good thing you're strong; I haven't heard of many Martians who could keep up with a Venusian."

" _Bad idea to challenge a Martian._ "

* * *

One of the perks of being a princess was having the undisputed right to sleep in once in a while. Servants, however, believed in timetables and punctuality, so Rei knew that she would have precious few hours with her new lover. As the timepiece on the wall ticked toward the inevitable Martian dawn, she smiled at the exhausted blonde, proud that she had managed to stay awake when Minako ran out of energy. "I win."

"Barely," Minako whispered, her eyes fluttering open. "I held back in consideration for your . . . inexperience."

"Inexperience? You were as much a virgin as I. Although, some of the things you showed me were . . . incredible."

"I have had instructors since I was young. Venusians learn as much as we can about pleasuring our potential lovers so that we never . . . disappoint."

Rei smiled and ran her fingers through Minako's golden hair. "How could you ever disappoint me? But you seriously have people teach you how to have sex?"

"How to make love," Minako corrected, one finger on Rei's lips. "We are a planet of love, so we are trained in that art. It is no different than you, the planet of war, training your people to fight."

"It is quite a bit more intimate."

"My entire race is a bit more intimate. You can't say that you are displeased at the depth of my training."

"No, I'm not." She glanced at the clock on the wall, leaning down and kissing Minako briefly. "We have a little more time before your servants arrive to begin the day. Did you want to show me anything else?"

Minako grinned as she flipped Rei onto her back, using the silk tie she had worn in her hair the night before to secure the Martian's wrists to the posts of the bed. Rei's eyes filled with desire, and her lover kissed her gently on the cheek. "I may have something."

" _Luhaira ri, Minako._ "

"I love you, too, my Rei."

* * *

Rei had never been nervous when entering her own throne room before, but after three months with Minako, she could no longer look at her family's home the same way. She had failed to find the Venusian a suitable husband, as her mother had ordered, and she had become the blonde's lover, something her mother had forbidden. Rikuriko would _know_ what her daughter had done, and the young princess had no idea how to deal with the queen. Lying was never an option for a current or future Sailor Mars, so she planned to appeal to her mother's feelings for Asakaze.

Rikuriko looked up from the report she was reading, confusion coloring her aura a mild orange. Her eyes narrowed as Minako and Rei reached the foot of her throne, pushing herself to her feet as all noise in the huge chamber ceased.

"You disobeyed me."

"Yes." There was no point in prevaricating with Rikuriko.

"Why?"

" _I had to."_ Rei knew that her father and siblings had never learned many languages, and Venusian was an extremely complicated one that they would never have considered useful. The confusion on Kazan's face confirmed her suspicion as Akaneiro looked up at his wife for translation.

Rikuriko, who clearly had been Asakaze's secret lover for decades, knew the language of Venus as well as she knew her own. Her pink eyes widened in shock as she raked Minako with her gaze, shaking her head in disbelief. _"You would not have gone so far. You would not cross that line!"_ Underneath the shock she projected with her words, Rei could sense desperation and fury. Rikuriko would do whatever it took to keep Rei away from her new lover and Rei didn't know if she could stop her.

"Well, I did. I made the decision that you never could. I made the decision that you still struggle with three times a year." Rei had been worried that she could not have said that correctly in Venusian, but her words cut deeper in Martian and forced her mother's fury to the forefront. If they were going to have a fight about her relationship with the blonde princess, it needed to happen as soon as possible.

"You dare compare yourself to me? I know my duty and I obeyed every law laid before me decades ago. As the High Princess of Mars, you should have done the same!"

" _I will, eventually. But I won't be like you and abandon her."_

" _Abandon? I would never abandon Asakaze."_

" _Three times a year is enough? Are you satisfied with that? Is she? Or does she go home afterwards and cry for weeks after being separated from her soul mate?"_

Rikuriko slammed her fist onto the arm of her throne in fury, shocking her husband and children. They had no idea why the two women were fighting, but every emotion they projected was hammering against everyone in the throne room, some of the younger nobles unable to hide their concern. The princess and queen had always been so alike; this was the first time anyone had seen them fight. _"You think I do it on purpose? I could never hurt her."_

"But you do. Every time."

"You insolent child! Don't you understand? _Luhaira re!_ "

" _Luhaira reh'Minako!"_ Rei screamed back. _"I love her as much as you love Asakaze, but I will not send her home with a false soul mate!"_

Rikuriko stared at her stubborn child and the beautiful blonde beside her. Asakaze's blue-eyed child. Her fury had faded into determination, and she knew that she had to preserve the Ancient Laws, no matter the cost to her heir. Rei and Minako were both young, but one day they would understand what sacrifice meant, and they would fall into the pattern that she and Asakaze had adopted to protect their love and their sanity. "And you, Minako?"

The Venusian looked up at the queen, her eyes full of love and desperation. _"I love Rei with all of my soul, and I will do whatever it takes to be with her."_

She had known that a Venusian would always answer that way after finding her soul mate. Asakaze had said the same thing to her, all those decades ago, but Rikuriko had been strong enough to send her blonde away. It was clear that Rei was not as strong, despite all of her mother's warnings three months ago. "That is not an option. Princess of Venus, you will return to your home as requested by Queen Asakaze. Rei, you are hereby confined to your chambers until you see reason and choose a husband."

Rei recoiled in shock, feeling Minako take her hand, desperate not to be separated. "Mother, please reconsider . . ."

"No. I am your queen and my word is final." Rikuriko turned to leave, her fury evident in her stride if not her voice, and Rei realized she only had one option left if she wanted to stay with Minako.

"Then I Challenge you."

Rikuriko froze, utter silence falling on the great hall as even the nobles stared in shock. Rei ladies, having stayed behind during her tour of Phobos and Deimos, covered their mouths almost in unison, unable to believe what their princess and _friend_ had said. They would never have expected something like this from her. Even Kazan, who had never been very close to Rei, stood from his throne with denial in his red eyes, unable to believe what his little sister had said. Minako looked up at Rei in confusion, squeezing the Martian's hand in query. She wasn't a Martian, so there was no way she could know, but Rei had just broken the greatest tradition of the royal line, and she had done it for Minako. "You . . . what?"

"Did I stutter?" the princess retorted, her voice little more than a furious hiss as a faint red light flickered around her slender form. She stood even taller, amethyst eyes boring into her mother's back. "I Challenge you, Mars Rikuriko, for the Mars henshin stick."

Rikuriko turned, taking in her daughter's determined stance and the intimate way she held the blonde Venusian. Perhaps defeating the child in battle was the only way to teach her to obey her mother and sovereign. "Very well."

* * *

"Rei, are you sure you're ready for this?"

The Martian tightened her bracers and checked the straps on her boots. The two of them were alone in the preparation room adjacent to the fighting ring where dozens of men had vied for Minako's hand only three months before. "I have to be, Minako. If I can't win, she'll force us apart. Three months ago, I would have welcomed the chance to help you find a fake soul mate in order to obey the Ancient Laws. Three weeks ago, I might have been able to still give you to a man and love you from two planets away. Three days ago, I would have gladly accepted the arrangement that my mother and Asakaze have in order to see you and still obey the Laws." Rei looked up as she finished checking her armor, the fire in her amethyst eyes brighter than Minako had ever seen it. "But since last night, I won't live without you, Minako. In ten thousand years, some princess _must_ have broken the Laws without her line fading into oblivion, and we have quite a bit of time before we have to worry about children."

"And what happens when we must continue our lines? What happens when our mothers die and we are Queens of our planets?"

Rei cupped Minako's chin in one hand, smiling gently. "One day, we will have to do what my mother has ordered, but it can be a long time in the future. We are young now, and I want to spend as much time as possible with you before we must inevitably make our own lives on our own planets."

"I would be with you forever."

"And I, you," Rei whispered, leaning in to kiss Minako one last time before her fight.

"Win for me, _my champion_."

Rei walked out onto the field, her eyes hard as she examined her opponent. Her mother was taller than her, with a longer reach and more experience, and the Mars powers gave her an obvious edge in the fight. Rei knew that she was faster and much more agile than the older woman, but it would not matter if Rikuriko was able to hit her with one of the many attacks in her arsenal. The gathered nobles, dignitaries, and guards were silent as the princess entered the field, clearly expecting their beloved queen to defeat her errant daughter quickly. Rei had other plans.

As soon as Rei nodded that she was ready, Rikuriko attacked.

The young princess had expected her more aggressive mother to make the first move, one she easily dodged, sparing a brief glance at the scorch mark left on the ground where she had been standing. The power of Sailor Mars was fire, and Rikuriko had been wielding that power for a long time. Rei ducked the queen's next attack, her sword cutting a glancing blow across the woman's hip.

Rikuriko paused and glanced down at her side, watching as the thin trail of blood healed almost instantly, leaving only a ragged cut in the white fabric just above the skirt of her Sailor Mars uniform to indicate that Rei had managed to touch her. The girl was a better warrior than her mother had anticipated. Deciding to switch to more long-ranged attacks, the queen backed off and prepared her weakest fire attack, clasping her hands together as she sent the ball of flame at her child.

"Fire Soul!"

Rei crossed her two swords before her like a shield, catching the fireball and reflecting it back, her amethyst eyes amused as her mother leapt to one side. She ran in to attack again, slipping a tiny knife free from her bracer and throwing it as she feinted left and dodged past her mother.

Rei heard the crowd gasp, and she knew that her aim had been true.

Rikuriko stared at the tiny back knife protruding from her left forearm, blood streaming from the wound and staining her white gloves. Her daughter was not holding anything back, despite the close relationship they had always shared, and the queen would have to treat her like a true enemy if she planned to win.

Rikuriko pulled the bloody knife free from her arm, dropping it to the ground as she summoned her bow. Her senshi healing sealed the wound at once, but that bright stain of blood on her glove proved that her daughter had become quite a fearsome warrior. "If you want to fight," she called to her daughter, "then I will fight you with this." Rei narrowed her eyes and raised her swords again, prepared for her mother's arrows.

Moments later, collapsed on the ground, the princess realized that she had underestimated the current Sailor Mars. Queen Rikuriko had always been a fine archer, and Rei glared at the two flaming arrows protruding from her calf as she remembered that. The arrows vanished moments later, the wounds partially cauterized by the fire, but the pain had been enough to send the princess to her knees. Rei clenched her fists as she struggled to rise, fighting tears as she realized that she could not win.

Two strong hands with long, tanned fingers grabbed her arm, helping the princess to her feet. She stumbled as she was forced to put weight on her injured leg, someone holding her for a moment until she could bear the agony. She looked up at the owner of those hands, her eyes widening at the powerful emerald orbs gazing back at her.

"Surely, you are not ready to give up." The husky, masculine voice spoke Standard with a cultured but clearly Uranian accent, and there was a strange power in the man's voice that indicated he had to be of noble birth. If he was a commoner, he would never have been allowed to interfere in this battle.

"I can't beat her," Rei whispered in despair, pulling back from her strange savior. "What can I do against that kind of power?" She waved vaguely at the scorched wounds on her leg, feeling a faint trickle of blood flowing from them to the ground.

"Win," he replied simply, running his long fingers through his short blonde hair as he considered his next words. "What are you fighting for, Princess Mars Rei?"

"I'm fighting to be Sailor Mars." Across the field, Rikuriko watched their conversation, assuming that the blonde noble was trying to convince her daughter to give up this foolish fight that she was clearly too emotional to win. Patiently, her crimson bow ready at her side, she waited.

"That is why you will lose. You can never win power for its own sake, and anyone who desires power like that is doomed to be overcome by it."

"Then what should I fight for?" Rei demanded, the pain in her leg almost forgotten in her growing rage. She knew that he was right, that as fellow warriors Uranians were just as feared on the battlefield as Martians, but she didn't want someone to tell her that she could never win! The Uranian noble remained perfectly calm, despite the angry red-head glaring at him.

He raised one arm and pointed across the field, to the trembling blonde Venusian princess watching the contest with tears in her eyes. "You should be fighting for her," he replied, as if the answer could be so simple.

"What? How do you know anything about that?!"

"I can see the pain in her eyes. If she loves you that much, if you love her that much, then why aren't you fighting for that love?"

Rei stared at the sandy blonde, her eyes widening as she remembered something Minako had said to her three months earlier. "Fight for love?"

"Sailor Venus is the leader of the Inner Senshi because that is what she fights for. If you want to keep her, then you must find that kind of strength, Mars Rei. You must become the kind of warrior she needs you to be or you will lose her forever."

Rei turned back to the battlefield, putting as much weight on her left leg as she could to avoid the stabbing pain in her right. One sword held before her and the other planted in the ground as a makeshift crutch, the Martian Princess faced her opponent once more, a new determination in her fiery eyes. "I love Minako," she whispered to herself, a faint red aura sparkling around her form as Rikuriko raised her bow once more. "I will be her champion one last time."

* * *


	5. Fires of Mars

**Chapter 5: Fires of Mars**

* * *

_January 20, 8983_

* * *

Setsuna sighed as she pushed the pile of data crystals away from her, closing her garnet eyes in surrender. She would have to venture to the Time Gate to sort out the knot she had found in the time stream, and even that might not be enough to give her a solution to the Saturn problem. In all of her years guarding the Time Gate, she had never seen a mess as tangled as the streams she currently had her servants analyzing. "I don't think I can figure this one out."

"Figure what out?" A pillar of golden light appeared in the center of Setsuna's study, fading into a swirl of pink rose petals to reveal a tall blonde with intense blue eyes. The woman, her beauty unmatched in the divine or mortal realms, straightened her rather revealing pink dress and grinned as her dark companion rolled her eyes. "You aren't happy to see me, Se?"

"Aphrodite, it is always a joy to see you, but the light show should be reserved for mortals. I am not impressed." Her voice was dry and humorless, as the goddess had expected, but there was an undertone of warmth and welcome. Se was truly always happy to see her divine family, even when she was living out one of her mortal lives.

The goddess grinned as she took Setsuna's hand, pulling the Queen of Pluto to her feet and offering her a brief hug. "I was coming to see you today, anyway, but I heard what you said. Is it anything I can help with?"

"I'm not sure, Aph. This isn't really a _love_ and _beauty_ sort of moment."

"Is it a _war_ and _destruction_ sort of moment?" Aphrodite's light voice carried the same teasing thread Setsuna's had a moment before, knowing that the other woman meant no disrespect. In the past, Aphrodite had been much more obsessed with herself, and her greedy nature and promiscuity had almost doomed the Pantheon to destruction. Since the birth of her beloved grandchildren over nine thousand years earlier, she had become a much calmer, more loving woman, and she was one of the few gods who would gladly spend time with the dark and often moody Setsuna.

"Perhaps. You are going to see Ares?" The reference was obvious, but she allowed the goddess to have her word games.

"Yes. He said something interesting is going to happen today and that I should be there. Would you like to come?"

Setsuna hesitated, remembering the last gathering the blonde goddess had convinced her to attend. "Will my father be there?"

"No." Setsuna rarely visited her parents or Aphrodite's grandson. The past she shared with them was too painful for her to intentionally remember frequently. It was one of the reasons she had stayed on Pluto for more than two generations and planned to stay even longer. She didn't blame her father for anything that happened, and she knew that he missed her, but it was easier to be alone. "Well, you know that I cannot cloak myself in this form."

The Goddess of Love giggled as she took Setsuna's hand, recognizing the younger woman's acceptance. "You know we will take care of that."

The pair vanished from Pluto, reappearing in a shower of rose petals floating on an oddly fluffy cloud above the rust-red surface of Mars. Setsuna sighed as she brushed the roses off her black dress, glaring at Aphrodite as the petals turned into tiny gemstones that wove themselves into the silky fabric of her gown. "I liked my dress the way it was."

"I like the ones you wear on Olympus better." Aphrodite never stopped trying to get her friend to wear bright clothes to counteract the gloomy attitude she seemed to have inherited from her even darker father.

"As do I," a new, deeper voice chimed in. Setsuna looked up to find one of her favorite cousins towering over her, his black hair as wild as she remembered. "Se, welcome."

"Ares, so nice to see you without your normal blood and gore attire."

The God of War guffawed, his voice echoing across the dusty world. "Se! You seem to have kept your sense of humor even after spending so much time with the mortals." He spun quickly on one foot, showing off his black leather suit only minimally adorned with gems and lightly padded to give the indication that it was armor. "I took a note from your wardrobe. Do you like the leather?"

"It suits you. Aph said you might have something interesting to show us?"

"I do. But first, why have you chosen to come? You never want to see us anymore. Especially not since Tranquility started that Cult of his."

Setsuna winced at the reminder of the godling she had been avoiding for centuries as Ares pointed at a nearby cloud-shaped chair. Sinking into the soft material gratefully, Setsuna stared up at the empty sky for a moment. "Something is coming. There is a disturbance in the Time Stream that I cannot unravel, and I haven't even identified the cause yet." She pulled one data crystal from the time pocket where she carried her henshin stick and talisman, handing it to Ares. "I try to keep my mortal and divine lives separate, but I thought that you two might be able to help. I wouldn't have called you, but Aph showed up and I figured it was worth showing you."

The god took a seat beside her, the cloud thickening underneath them as Aphrodite formed a chair on Setsuna's other side. Ares took the crystal in his hand, using his free hand to extract the data from it before handing the crystal back. Opening his fist, he released the image that was bothering his cousin so much, watching it spin before him in the air. "This is quite the tangled mess. When did it appear?"

"I first noticed it a few days ago, but calculations indicate that it started almost twenty-one standard years ago."

"What was happening in the mortal realms twenty-one years ago?"

Setsuna shrugged and ran her fingers through her dark green hair in a gesture she had picked up from Kazeko when the deceased queen had been one of her best friends. "It has been a busy two decades, but there has not been much to distinguish this generation of senshi from any previous set. They are more powerful than ever, but the peace has also lasted for a thousand years. I have no answer."

"Has the time disturbance changed at all since you identified it?" Despite the prevailing image of her among the mortals, Aphrodite was not an airhead by any means. She was just as capable of helping to solve this mystery as her warrior lover.

"Yes, Aph, once. When I visited the princess of Uranus, the knot unraveled a bit. But there has been nothing since then."

"Where is she now, this Uranian princess?"

Setsuna shrugged as she turned her attention to the Martian Palace below her. She had no intention of tracking the blonde as she travelled through the solar system, as long as Haruka was on Titan for the meeting. "You two are the gods; you find her," she replied flippantly.

"Uranus gave her avatars the ability to hide from us, as well you know. Does she look like the last one?"

"Almost identical." Setsuna had been idly watching the Martians gathering outside the palace in the dusty fighting ring where all important Martian tournaments were fought, and she finally realized that the God of War must have been watching the same thing before she arrived. "Ares, what's going on down there?"

"Oh! That's why I called you!" The time knot forgotten for a moment, Ares moved his cloud closer to the ground, hovering only a dozen feet over the largest training arena on the Martian Palace grounds. They and their cloud were invisible to mortal eyes, but it was unlikely that anyone would both looking up from the battle that was clearly about to start. The current Queen, Rikuriko, stood silently on one end of the clear area in her Sailor Mars uniform, staring at the building opposite her with steely pink eyes, prepared for a fight.

"What is going on?" There was only one possible answer, but Setsuna could not bring herself to believe that a Martian child who had not even achieved the age of nineteen would dare to issue the Challenge.

"Rikuriko has accepted the Challenge! Rei is fighting her for the henshin stick. She is the youngest princess ever to Challenge for the right to be Sailor Mars."

Aphrodite forced the cloud even lower as Rikuriko's oldest daughter emerged from the barracks, her black and red armor bringing out the blood color in her long hair. "Wow, she is lovely. No wonder you are so interested in her, Ares."

Ares snorted and conjured up a plate of refreshments for the show. "Ah Aphrodite, I would expect you to notice that first. She may be beautiful, but it is her strength that has drawn me here."

"She has the eyes of a warrior," Setsuna noted, analyzing each step of the young princess toward her waiting mother. She had never, in the almost nine thousand years since the dawning of the Silver Millennium, been able to witness a true Challenge between Mars and her hopeful successor. Most of the time, the mother passed her powers on in a sedate ceremony, often including a mock fight, but there were rare occasions when the princess was ready before her queen. This was clearly one of those times.

"Exactly."

"She's young," Setsuna murmured, entranced by the determination in Rei's amethyst eyes. "Why is she choosing now to fight? Rikuriko did not challenge her mother until she was almost three decades old. This girl has not even passed her second."

"She thinks she is strong enough now," Ares retorted, reveling in the fiery determination he sensed pulsing off the girl in waves, his love of battle appropriately reflected in the eyes of his world's princess. Aphrodite gasped beside him as she spotted the slender blonde following Rei onto the field before taking a position among the spectators. The war god turned his head to see what had caught her attention. "Isn't that your princess, Aph? She looks like you."

"Minako is the most beautiful child my line has ever produced," Aphrodite murmured, tilting her head to one side in contemplation. "She even has my blue eyes. Most of them don't. It's like looking in a mirror."

"That's why Rei's fighting now," Setsuna realized, a vague sense of uneasiness filling her frame. The Ancient Laws that existed to keep senshi from their soul mates might seem cruel to the princesses, but they existed for a reason and no senshi had failed to obey since the rule was implemented. Most of the royals believed that the Ancient Laws harkened back to the first days of their kingdoms, but in truth the law against princesses marrying women was only three thousand years old, implemented after the last of the Sailor Wars. Pluto Setsuna had done a fine job of manipulating the histories of the Silver Millennium to make sure that they obeyed that specific law. "Venusians search for their soul mate on their eighteenth birthday, and Rei must be hers."

"None of my princesses have ever fought to keep their true soul mate." Not that Ares wasn't a fan of love and soul mates, but his people were practical warriors, the opposite of Aphrodite's.

"No, Ares, but this is only one of a handful of times when the soul mate of Mars is the princess of Venus. It is a dangerous combination, love and war, with the potential to breed disaster. You two are living proof of that." Aphrodite blushed as she vividly remembered her youthful exploits and the trouble she and Ares—and their children—had caused the Pantheon. "Rikuriko is a hard and practical woman, and she would never have disobeyed her mother to be with Asakaze. She was also much less powerful when Asakaze visited Mars than her daughter is now. Rei is a Martian warrior in the truest sense, but she also has an immense capacity to love that some of your Avatars never attain." Setsuna paused as she remembered the day Rikuriko had visited her, demanding to know why she and Asakaze had to be apart. It was the only time she had seen the Martian warrior cry. "They must know that they can't stay together."

"Not forever," the blonde goddess replied as she sipped the wine Ares had provided. "I gave my children the ability to know their soul mate because I wanted to see what they would do with that knowledge. Except for the senshi, there are rarely any problems when they meet, but your rules have changed that." Se turned to glare at the blonde, her cousin raising her hands in surrender. "I don't argue that they aren't necessary rules, Se! I was there that day, remember?" Se tilted her head in apology, remembering how much the patron gods had suffered on that day three thousand years earlier. Turning back to the show below, the Goddess of Love continued. "Asakaze, like many queens before her, chose to take a husband from her soul mate's world and keeps her love a secret. I'm sure that Minako will eventually go that route, but she will be with Rei now. I have never seen this reaction in a Venusian before."

"Is this the reason time is warping? Is their love destined to destroy the future?"

Aphrodite shrugged. "Honestly, I don't know. Their love is strong, I can see that, but I can't imagine that the love of two, four, or even six senshi would be enough to bring down a kingdom as old and powerful as the Silver Millennium."

 _What about eight?_ Setsuna wanted to ask the question, thoughts of her own lost love filling her mind, but she bit her tongue. Certainly Aphrodite knew best when it came to matters of the heart.

"I tend to side with Aph on this one," Ares murmured, watching as Rikuriko attacked. Rei's ability to cut Sailor Mars surprised the god, and he watched in wide-eyed silence as Rei not only dodged the fire attack her mother sent toward her, but managed to bury a tiny knife in Rikuriko's arm. "She is agile and smart. I did not expect that knife."

"She can't win. Rikuriko will summon her bow." True to Setsuna's word, Sailor Mars pulled her bow and sent two flaming arrows at her daughter, nodding grimly as Rei fell to the ground. "She must surrender now. It was a good attempt, but she was not strong enough to defeat as seasoned a warrior as Rikuriko."

Aphrodite pointed at the edge of the crowd where Rei had fallen, the trio watching as a tall nobleman with sandy blonde hair and vibrant emerald eyes helped the princess to her feet. There were no rules in a battle for the henshin stick, except that commoners were not allowed in the ring, and Rikuriko seemed content to let the blonde speak to Rei from the sidelines as long as he did not enter the field of battle. "Who is that?"

Setsuna smirked and waved one hand at the time knot floating nearby. "That is my missing princess, Haruka. It looks like she decided to visit her fellow warriors and arrived in time to see this battle."

"Looks more like a missing _prince_ ," Aphrodite retorted sourly, wrinkling her nose slightly at the idea of a woman intentionally dressing as a man.

"Yes, well, Haruka does cultivate a masculine image and voice. What are they talking about down there?"

"Sorry, we're not close enough to hear, Se. Oh, she's standing!" Rei, pain in her amethyst eyes, forced herself to stand without trembling, one black sword held in front of her while the other served as a crutch for her bleeding leg. The three spectators leaned forward as Rikuriko raised her bow once more.

* * *

Rei rolled to one side as her mother fired again, feeling the heat of the arrows as they barely missed her. She jumped to her feet as quickly as she could, running forward as the haze of battle began to override her sense of pain. The princess could _feel_ the bloodlust begin to cloud her judgment, and for once she welcomed her birthright. Martians were terrifying warriors when they were injured and had something to protect, and she grinned insanely as another arrow sliced across the outside of her left arm. As the blood stained Rei's armor, the streamers of red power she had shown in the throne room began to surround her again, and Sailor Mars stepped back, her pink eyes worried at the sudden strength her daughter had found.

Rikuriko let her bow vanish as she unsheathed her own sword, fire dancing along its edge. Rei accepted the invitation and the clash of metal echoed across the field. The nobles began to whisper among themselves as the two women clashed. Rei, weakened by her wounds but burning with a bloodlust more powerful than many Martians had ever seen, had clearly become a challenge for her mother to fight. There was a chance, however slim, that the untried princess might _win_.

From her position on the sidelines near the combatants, Minako clenched her fists together over her heart. She knew that Rei had been arrogant to assume that she could defeat a seasoned Sailor Mars just because she wanted to, but the princess of Venus had hoped that she could succeed. Rikuriko had been Sailor Mars for almost three decades, and her battle prowess was already highly regarded throughout the Silver Millennium. How could Rei have ever believed she would win?

As Rikuriko closed with her daughter, the taller woman bringing her strength to bear against the weakening princess, Minako felt something deep inside her begin to struggle, desperate for freedom, her soul beginning to cry out in agony. She couldn't stop her tears as Rikuriko forced Rei back, disarming her and knocking her to the ground. "You dared to challenge me," the queen growled, her voice thick with her own rage and bloodlust. She raised her flame-wreathed sword above her head, clearly beyond all reason. "Die."

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

* * *

Aphrodite fell to her knees on the cloud, tears streaming from her pale blue eyes as she held one hand to her heart. "Can't you feel that? Her soul is screaming!"

Setsuna glanced at Minako as she cried out, falling to her knees beside Aphrodite. She feared that Sailor Mars would kill Rei, as Rikuriko lost herself to the rage her people were famous for, and the Queen of Pluto did not know what course of action she should take. "What will you do?"

"I can do nothing! Your laws prevent me from interfering. She has to do this on her own, and it's tearing me apart!"

Ares's deep voice cut through Aphrodite's tears, catching the attention of both women. "Look."

* * *

Rikuriko grunted as a glowing metal chain wrapped itself around her arm and stopped her fatal blow. Rei stared up in shock as her mother was jerked back by the same chain, forced onto her own knees a dozen feet away. Standing between the combatants, golden-orange power pulsing around her slender form, stood Sailor Venus, her long blonde hair blowing in the dusty wind.

Rikuriko, shaking her head in disbelief, glanced down at her sword before standing to face Venus. "You interfered. That is forbidden."

"It is forbidden for _commoners_ to interfere," Sailor Venus shot back, holding her chain ready at her side as her blue eyes pinned the older senshi. "It is permitted for a senshi to intervene to save a life in a non-lethal challenge. You were going to kill her."

Sailor Mars shook her head in disbelief, searching her memory of the battle. "I can't have lost control . . . I was going to kill her? But I . . . she should not have been enough of a challenge to trigger this blood rage!"

Rei snorted as she pushed herself to her feet, holding her single remaining sword before her. "You underestimate my strength and demand that I surrender, but I will beat you, Mother. As long as I can stand, as long as I can hold this sword, I will fight." She let her purple-black eyes meet her soul mate's concerned blue ones, and she smiled at the newly transformed senshi. "Venus, I can handle this on my own. Thank you, but I am _your_ champion, not the other way around. Let me finish this battle."

Sailor Venus nodded as she coiled her chain and hooked it on her belt, turning on one orange heel and heading back to the edge of the field. She returned to her previous spot near the barracks, surprised to see the emerald-eyed blonde who had spoken with Rei earlier waiting there for her. The tall man tilted his head to the side and smiled at the Venusian princess, catching her as she stumbled at the edge of the field, the rush of power that had forced her transformation fading with her senshi uniform. The blonde princess murmured her thanks as the Uranian helped her stand.

"Are you alright?"

"Just a little weak," Minako whispered. "I saw you talking to Rei earlier; who are you?"

"Kazemaru, child of the High Duke of Umbriel."

"What did you say to her, Kazemaru?"

The young duke turned his attention back to the battle, an odd smirk on his lips. "I told her to fight for you and she would win."

Across the field, her lover safe, Rei stared at her mother and the fiery sword that had almost ended her life. Rikuriko would never accept her rebellion, no matter how much she agreed with the direction of her daughter's heart. If Rei could not find one last ounce of power, she would lose Minako forever, and she knew that she would not survive that separation. "Ares, grant me your strength," Rei whispered, her eyes darkened completely to black with her bloodlust, her grip on her sword steady. "I am already her champion; make me yours as well." She concentrated on the scorching flames raging within her soul, the powerful force behind her bloodlust, and she _pulled_ that power around herself like a cloak.

Rikuriko raised her sword into a defensive position as Rei attacked, pink eyes darkened with her own rage as she pushed against the smaller woman. The princess, her black eyes never leaving her mother's face, let the queen force her to take two calculated steps back, as if her strength was finally flagging. When Rikuriko moved to push her advantage, Rei rolled to one side, spinning and slamming her elbow into Mars's chest with enough force to throw the older woman to the ground. Rikuriko grunted as she landed, her weapon flying across the field, looking up the length of Rei's sword into confident black eyes. She moved to stand, freezing when the princess standing over her prone form calmly touched the tip of her sword to Mars's throat.

Rikuriko felt her transformation fade as the rage drained from her body, leaving behind all of her bruises and wounds and a bitter sense of defeat. How could Rei have beaten her in such a fight? How could a powerless woman defeat Sailor Mars?

Rei held her position, waiting for a confirmation from her mother that she was the victor, though the fact that Rikuriko had returned to her civilian form was almost a surrender in and of itself. She began to relax, ready to remove her sword from her mother's throat, when a large hand landed on her shoulder. Still tense from the battle, still on edge from her near death, eyes still dark from her bloodlust, Rei ducked away from the hand and spun, burying her slender sword into the belly of her new opponent. The tall man, his wild black hair and goatee a match for his leather armor, laughed, removing Rei's sword from his body and tossing it aside.

"You have good reflexes, but gods can't be killed so easily."

"Ares," she whispered, shock dissipating the last of her blood rage, leaving her with amethyst eyes and a failing body.

The god caught her before she could fall to her knees, wrapping his hands around her upper arms and leaning down to kiss her forehead. When he pulled back, the glowing symbol of Mars shone in red from the spot his lips had touched, changing into a golden tiara with a red stone in the center as the trembling girl transformed into Sailor Mars. "You are the most powerful Avatar I have ever had," Ares informed her, his deep voice echoing across the silent field. "You won the right to have my strength and to be my champion. You will be the finest Sailor Mars of all time." He turned to Rikuriko and smiled gently, watching the queen rise to her feet. "You served me well in your time, Rikuriko, but it is your rebellious daughter's turn to fight now. I thank you both for an excellent show."

Ares stepped back and vanished in a column of flame, leaving a trembling Sailor Mars facing her predecessor with no idea what to say. "Mother . . ."

"You won, Rei. Ares has even validated your strength." Rikuriko stepped forward and pulled her daughter into her arms, sensing her Sailor Mars transformation fade. "I do not think you are making the right choice, but it is your choice to make, now. Remember that one day you will be queen, and on that day you must be prepared to marry and produce an heir. If you want to enjoy your life until then, so be it."

"Thank you, Mother," Rei whispered, struggling to stay awake after losing so much blood. "And thank you for fighting me with your full strength." A moment later, her world went black.

* * *

"Was it wise to appear to her like that?"

Ares shrugged. "I needed to appear to her, Se. She is . . . I cannot describe how proud I am of her today. She is so weak she can barely stand, but she managed to _win_." He turned to Aphrodite, who had regained her composure and her seat as the battle ended. "Your avatar was quite a surprise. I have never seen Sailor Venus force a transformation like that before."

"I have never seen one senshi's rise catalyze another's before," Setsuna murmured in agreement, staring at Haruka in her duke disguise on the edge of the field. "Haruka only just became Sailor Uranus for the first time, and whatever she said drove Rei to continue to fight well past her known limit. The fight and her soul mate's near death drove Minako into forcing her Sailor Venus transformation, which led to our new Sailor Mars. This chain of events is highly irregular."

"My avatars are not normally so determined in their Challenge battles," Ares admitted. "It's mostly a show fight; when the previous queen is tired of carrying the henshin stick she hands it off to her heir. These two were truly trying to kill each other."

"Se, look," Aphrodite whispered, pointing at the time knot that had been floating nearby the entire time. As the trio watched, a small section in the lower segment of the knot unraveled, reducing the size of the overall disturbance by ten percent. "Ares, is this based on Setsuna's data or is it live information from Pluto?"

"This is from the source, from the computers monitoring the Time Gate," Ares replied, looking down as Rei fainted and a group of medics converged on the girl. Minako and Haruka reached her first, the Venusian holding her soul mate as the medics began to heal her. "Is this fight somehow related to your time knot?"

"It seems so. I must enter the Time Stream and observe this section myself. I need to know what is changing it before anything else happens."

Aphrodite stood and took the time knot into her hands, reaching in and pointing at a pink section with a carefully manicured fingernail. "Se, you aren't going to like this."

"What?" The dark woman stood and reached into the knot, pulling out the section Aphrodite had noticed. "What do you . . . oh. You're right, I don't like this."

"You should go speak with Tranquility before you visit the Time Gate. It seems that his Cult of the Broken Wing will play a part in your disturbance."

"Aph, I never want to speak to him again. Not after what happened with Serenity."

The Goddess of Love touched a gentle hand to Setsuna's cheek, sympathy in her blue eyes. "I know that he hurt you, but she was his sister. He misses her as much as you do, and you two shouldn't fight over that. Maybe he can help you with this time knot."

Setsuna waved her hand, summoning her Time Staff as she transformed into Sailor Pluto and steeled herself for the inevitable confrontation with her former friend. "Fine, I will go, but I do not promise to be civil. The last three times we met, I threatened to kill him." She vanished in a flash of garnet light, leaving the two gods alone on their cloud.

Ares glanced at Aphrodite and raised one eyebrow. "She's too much like her father."

"An affliction Tranquility suffers from, as well," the blonde replied, watching her avatar follow the medics carrying an unconscious Rei back into the palace. "If they can work out their differences, maybe she can discover the cause of the time knot and prevent whatever catastrophe is coming."


	6. Winds of Venus

**Chapter 6: Winds of Venus**

* * *

_January 20, 8983 – January 21, 8983_

* * *

Lilia, Kounin, and Ken'nin had wandered beyond visual range, following a trail the Jovian had spotted earlier that morning. Saiki and Eiki stayed with Haname and Jurin on the ship to catalog the plants they had already collected, leaving Ami and Makoto to collect flowers from near the ship. The Mercurian princess had stopped fighting her cousin's team assignments, just as she had started to accept that she might be mildly attracted to her tall Jovian guard. Over the past few weeks, Makoto had become a very good friend, keeping the blue-haired genius entertained and letting her enjoy an assignment that could have become tedious very quickly.

"I'm surprised King Koshu would not see you."

"Hmm? Oh, I am not really surprised. Queen Shousha would not see us, either. There was a falling out between those two and the Inner Planets before I was born, but I never found out why." Ami carefully collected a leaf and a flower from the _mrakuruj_ plant she had found, sealing them inside a specimen container before moving on to the next plant. "All of the Uranian moons have a very harsh landscape, but Miranda is surely the worst. All of these plants are thorny or poisonous and none of them have very large flowers, and I am quite tired of the sandstorms. I would say these moons are the opposite of the ones orbiting Neptune."

Makoto nodded as she leaned over Ami, trying to get close enough to read the smaller woman's notes. She didn't seem to notice the Mercurian blush as one of her breasts brushed the petite princess's back. "Yeah, it seems that way. It makes sense, though, since Neptune prides itself on elegance and beauty while Uranus is more about graceful strength. They are some of the most fearsome warriors in the system. It makes you wonder if the people formed from the land or the land from the people."

"Considering their patron gods, it could have been either one," Ami remarked casually as she collected another sample and moved to stand, freezing when Makoto placed one hand on her back. The green-haired woman was staring into the distance, her entire body tense as she clenched her fists and readied herself to move. Jovians tended toward unarmed combat, unlike their Martian and Uranian counterparts, Ami reminded herself, wondering what had her usually calm guard on edge. An instant later, the answer leapt from the bushes before her in the form of a huge reptilian predator with long fangs and heavy claws, its tiny eyes locked on the blue-haired princess kneeling before it.

Makoto used the hand on Ami's back to push the smaller woman down and back, putting herself between the princess and the beast. It snarled as Makoto kicked it mid-leap, throwing it back with the force of her attack. It landed on all six feet, glaring at the two women through cold black eyes as Makoto rolled across the ground after it. She punched it in the jaw, grinning as she heard something break. The beast whined as it rolled away, hissing at the tall Jovian before it vanished into the undergrowth again. Makoto remained tense for several more moments until she was sure the threat was gone, relaxing her muscles and returning to Ami. "Are you alright?"

"Yes," the princess whispered, shaking as she pushed herself to her feet. Makoto wrapped her strong arms around the trembling girl, calming Ami the only way she knew how. Slowly, the Mercurian's tremors ceased, but she didn't pull away from Makoto's strong embrace. "Thank you for protecting me."

"It's my job," Makoto replied automatically, pulling back when Ami stiffened in her arms. The smaller princess looked up with pained sapphire eyes, and the Jovian instantly regretted her flippant words.

"Is that the only reason?"

"No," Makoto admitted softly, surprising even herself. "I don't want anything to happen to you, Ami."

Ami blushed, ducking her head as she tried to think of a response. The genius was rarely at a loss for words, but she had never been good at expressing her feelings. A sharp cry from the direction of the ship broke the fragile mood between the princesses, and Ami looked up at Makoto sadly before running back to their vehicle.

The frantic look in Jurin's brown eyes called them back faster, the Duke tossing a data pad at his cousin. "The Uranian army is mobilizing. We need to leave."

"Mobilizing?" Ami stared at the figures and news reports scrolling through the air before her, Makoto touching one image to magnify it. King Koshu stood on the balcony of his palace, the ten War Queens arranged behind him, a worried look in his hazel green eyes. "Why has he activated the army? We are at peace."

"The princess went missing last night, and he has not been able to find her. Also, there is a rumor that the henshin stick and Space Sword were stolen from the royal vault."

"What?! How can a princess of the Silver Millennium go missing?"

Jurin ran his fingers through his ice blue hair, watching as Lilia and her party returned to the ship. "I don't know, but the sooner we get off this moon the better. I would rather not get caught up in Uranian politics. I'm sure Princess Haruka is just at some retreat that her father has not found yet, and this will all blow over soon."

"I'm sure you're right, but it is certainly time to head to Saturn in either case," Ami concluded, nodding slowly. "This survey mission is taking much longer than we had expected, and we have enough samples from the other three moons that a few more from Miranda won't make much difference. Pack up everything we have gathered and request permission from Oberon Central Command for a departure window."

Less than an hour later, Ami stared out of the view port of her small ship as Uranus and its moons faded behind them. She was alone in the small lounge, but she could not bring herself to study her samples. All she could think about was Makoto's quiet confession earlier. What should she do? Lilia constantly pushed the two of them together, and Ami had to admit that she liked the tall princess, but until today she had no indication that Makoto liked her, as well.

"What are you thinking about?" Makoto took a seat on the plush couch beside Ami, her emerald eyes mirroring Ami's internal struggle.

The blue-haired genius sighed. "You," she admitted. "I don't know what to do about these feelings I have for you."

Makoto reached over and took her hand, forcing the other woman to turn and look at her. "What do you want to do about them?" Her tone hinted that she would be perfectly willing to let their feelings evolve into the kind of relationship Lilia had told Ami to pursue. Ami had never been in any kind of relationship before, and she had to admit that the prospect was a little frightening.

Ami blushed. "I'm not like Lilia, you know. I'm not brave or sexy or anything."

"I'm glad you're not like Lilia," Makoto replied, smiling gently at the other princess. She almost couldn't believe that Ami had feelings for her, feelings that seemed to mirror what the Jovian felt in her own heart. "Your cousin is just too independent. She doesn't want to be protected. You need me, and that's the kind of sexy I'm attracted to."

The faint pink on Ami's cheeks darkened to a dark red, the woman trying unsuccessfully to hide her embarrassment. "I would never have thought someone like you would see anything in someone like me. Without Lilia interfering, I would probably never have had the courage to say anything. Honestly, I may never have noticed that I was attracted to you at all."

"I noticed that she seemed to be throwing us together. Do you regret it?"

"No!" Makoto grinned at the other girl's admission, pulling Ami closer. The genius smiled and rested her head on Makoto's chest, letting the amazon's breathing comfort her. "I'm glad she did."

"Me, too." They sat on the couch, staring at the stars, until both of them drifted off to sleep, utterly content to just be together. From the doorway, Lilia and Ken'nin watched them for a while, silver eyes overjoyed and green eyes disapproving.

"You should not have pushed them together," Ken'nin growled, the first time he had shown any kind of anger on their long trip. "Ami is exactly the kind of person I knew Makoto would end up with someday."

"How is that bad?" Lilia knew that the Jovian was not angry at her, or even at her cousin, but at the attraction he could see between the two women. He was a warrior, and he knew that there were some battles that he could not fight.

"Because they could actually fall in love, and they certainly can't marry. I wanted to protect my sister from the kind of heartache our mother suffers."

"Heartache?" Lilia looked up at Ken'nin, demanding answers, and the prince reluctantly offered them.

"Mother fell in love with Amami when they were younger, but the Ancient Laws prohibit marriages between royal women, so they returned to their planets and found suitable husbands. Makoto has been courted by hundreds of men, but they have all been too . . . domineering for her taste. She wants someone to protect, and I fear that she has found it in your cousin. I never told her about Mother and Amami, but it might be the only thing that will make her keep her distance from Ami."

"My cousin and your sister both suffer from a lack of prior relationships. Let them be young and enjoy each other's company. It's not like they're Venusians with that weird sensing their soul mate thing, so they will eventually part ways to rule their own planets."

Ken'nin sighed and turned away from the sleeping pair, Lilia following him back to the bridge. "I suppose there won't be any harm."

* * *

"Ami! You are needed on the bridge."

The blue-haired princess jerked free of her dreams, glancing up into the sleepy emerald eyes of her guard. Turning her head slightly, she found her cousin staring at her from over the back of the couch, the urgency in Lilia's silver eyes dispelling the last of her languor. "What's going on?"

"We have been refused entrance into Saturnian space."

Makoto pushed herself to her feet, pulling Ami up beside her, letting the princess lead the way to the bridge. Lilia grabbed Makoto's arms as the Jovian passed her, grinning and nodding toward the blue-haired Mercurian. "Good job." The princess glared at Ami's cousin, silently requesting that she keep her _observations_ a secret, relaxing when Lilia nodded conspiratorially.

Saiki and Kounin stood as Ami entered the bridge, letting the princess take the captain's chair and controls. She glanced at the reports scrolling across the screen, changing the display to show Saturn and its primary moons. "They have enacted a blockade. Why?"

"We don't know. They won't answer us," Kounin admitted.

Ami tapped a few controls, sending a message demanding to speak with Traffic Control on Titan. She waited patiently for a reply, sapphire eyes narrowing as she sent another message directly to the Palace itself. The reply to that was almost immediate. The transparent image of a harried man with black hair and dark gold eyes appeared in the air above the shuttle controls, clearly both mildly irritated and intensely curious. _"This is Titan Communications. Your message carries the seal of the Mercury Royal Family. Please identify."_

"I am Ami, High Princess of Mercury," she replied, letting a faint tinge of irritation enter her own voice, both for the man's attitude and his use of Saturnian instead of Sol Standard on an open channel. "And since you have now had the opportunity to identify me, I would appreciate if you could patch me through to Queen Yumemi."

The man jumped up from his chair, bowing at the screen. _"At once, Your Highness."_

"In Standard," she ordered. The communication turned to static for a moment, then it changed to the image of a sad woman with long, dark purple hair. "Queen Yumemi."

"Princess Ami," the image murmured tiredly. "Why are you here?"

"I am studying the plants of the solar system, as ordered by my mother. I'm sure you received a message saying that my ship would arrive."

Yumemi nodded and ran a hand over her face. "Right, right. I remember. Look, my dear, you should just skip Saturn today."

"Why?" Makoto leaned closer to the screen so the queen could see her.

"The High Princess of Jupiter, too? Makoto, if Meika is ready to pass her henshin stick on to you, now is certainly the time. In one standard month, there will be a Full Council on Titan, and every reigning Queen and Planetary Senshi will be expected to attend. You two are young, at the beginning of your power. It is best that younger senshi take over the fight now."

"What fight? What is happening?"

"You will see at the meeting. For now, you must go. I cannot allow anyone to land on Titan right now. The blockage will be dropped on February 20th for the meeting."

Ami sighed as the communication ended, tapping the controls as she input a heading to Jupiter. "I suppose we are skipping Saturn. Something very bad must be happening there for Queen Yumemi to close her borders."

* * *

She could not remember ever being in such pain. All she wanted was to slip back into the dark abyss of dreams that had protected her from the agony, but something was pulling her toward the bright and merciless light. Groaning, she slowly opened her amethyst eyes, flinching away from the lights overhead. She sensed a movement to her right, so she forced her head to turn, and the motion alerted her companion of her return to consciousness.

"Rei," the blonde breathed, leaning over the Martian. "You're awake."

"So it seems," Rei whispered, fighting the pounding in her head. "I would prefer not to be, if this pain is the price."

"Here, Your Highness, let me help." Another woman entered her limited field of vision, dressed in medic white and holding a cup of neon green liquid in one hand. Minako slipped her arm under Rei's back and helped the princess into a sitting position, wincing when her soul mate hissed in pain. The medic touched the cup to Rei's lips and helped her drink it, smiling as her patient slowly relaxed. "Is that better?"

"Yes, thank you." She waited for the medic to leave the small room before turning to Minako, her memories slowly coming into focus. "I won."

"You did."

She narrowed her amethyst eyes as the rest of the events of the battle slowly filtered back into her active memory. "You transformed into Sailor Venus without calling for the change or already having your henshin stick. I've never heard of that happening before. Does your mother even know?"

Minako shrugged, absently stroking Rei's arm. "I've never heard of it, either. I don't think she knows yet, but she will when I return. I just . . . you were going to die, Rei, and I _had_ to save you. I don't know how I did it."

"Your soul screamed and Venus answered." The princesses looked up as a flash of golden light faded into a cascade of pink rose petals to reveal a breathtaking woman with intense blue eyes and lightly curled golden hair flowing across her shoulders and down her back. Her gauzy pink dress revealed almost more than it hid, and Rei found herself blushing at the sight. The slender woman, only a little taller than Rei and Minako, laughed as she sensed the direction of the Martian's thoughts. "Well, I am used to seeing that reaction from men, but to have a woman blush is quite the compliment."

"You look like Minako," Rei replied, forced to defend her attraction.

"No, sweetie; _she_ looks like _me_ ," the other woman corrected, one finger raised. "She is, after all, a descendant of my line."

"Aphrodite," Minako breathed at last, breaking free of the shock that had frozen her in place. The Goddess of Love was one of the most active in the Pantheon, and no Venusian could even fail to recognize their beloved deity.

"In the flesh! I just wanted to congratulate you. Never before has my Avatar fought so hard for her soul mate. It was impressive, to say the least."

"You were watching with Ares," Rei realized, narrowing her eyes at the implication. Unlike her Venusian lover, she was not star-struck by the presence of a deity in her hospital room. She had been shocked by the appearance of her own War God in the tournament ring, but she refused to lose her faculties to his blonde companion. "Was there some mass gathering of gods to watch as I got my ass handed to me by my mother, or was this a private showing?"

"My, what a spitfire you have there, Minako! She ran Ares through with her sword and now she attempts to do the same to me with her words." Aphrodite grinned as she stepped closer to the bed, pulling a shocked Minako into her embrace. "You are so much like me, you know. You're going to do great things as my Avatar."

"Th-thank you," Minako managed, holding Rei's hand tightly in hers as the goddess moved back. "What do you mean, my soul was screaming?"

"Your soul mate was in danger, and a Venusian responds to that. When you cried out for something to help your lover, Venus responded by letting you transform. The planet has a consciousness of its own, and she decided that you needed to have her power. I have never seen it before, but I have always hoped that my lineage would evolve to have the capacity to love so much. You are the most perfect embodiment of love and beauty I have ever seen. And you had the decency to pick a beautiful mate, as well." Rei blushed as Aphrodite turned the full force of her gaze on the Martian, laughing at the mortal woman's reaction. "You should keep an eye on her, Pyro. My avatar will attract some attention, for sure."

"I will," Rei promised, watching as the goddess stood to leave. She recognized the nickname, Pyro, from one of the Olympian Histories she had learned as a girl. It was a name Aphrodite used for Ares, sometime after he won her back from Hephaestus, and she had to admit that she was a little honored that Minako's goddess would use that name to compare her to the God of War. "Are we going to be interrupted by any other gods stopping by for a quick congratulations, or are we free to live our lives in peace?"

"Oh my, I can't believe this! You _are_ exactly like Ares. I wish you two the best of luck with each other." Aphrodite vanished, Minako's shock fading as Rei crossed her arms over her chest.

"She didn't answer my question," the Martian observed, looking up as a husky laugh filled the small space. The tall blonde who had helped her during the fight entered the recovery room, his emerald eyes sparkling with mirth. She realized that his messy blonde hair was several shades lighter that it had appeared on the dusty Martian field, though it was still darker than Minako's.

"Do you often antagonize gods, or were these two a special treat?"

Rei narrowed her eyes at the Uranian who had technically helped her win the fight against her mother. "Who are you?"

"So fiery! You didn't bother to ask my name when you were taking my advice earlier."

"Well, I'd like to know now."

"I'm Kazemaru, child of the High Duke of Umbriel."

"Why are you here?"

Kazemaru shrugged, the sword on his hip shifting with the movement. "I was traveling and happened to be in the neighborhood for your fight. I heard that you are heading to Venus tomorrow morning; I happen to be going the same direction if you two beautiful women want some company."

Minako placed a finger over Rei's lips before the Martian could reply, knowing that nothing her soul mate was planning to say would be nice or considerate. "I think it would be lovely to have you travel with us."

"Minako," Rei growled, eyes narrowed at Kazemaru as the Uranian continued to watch them with an irritating bemused look on his face. Aphrodite's words about Minako attracting attention flashed through her mind, and she decided that she was not interested in this man getting anywhere close to her lover.

The blonde rolled her eyes, clearly understanding Rei's fears. _"He is the one who told you to fight for me,"_ she reassured the red-head in Venusian. _"He knows of our bond and he wouldn't break it."_

" _I don't like him flirting with you,"_ Rei growled, amethyst eyes flashing.

" _Maybe I should flirt with you instead, Pyro?"_ Kazemaru's teasing voice caught their attention, his amusement washing over them with the Venusian words. Clearly he was more fluent in Minako's native language than her lover, certainly an indication of high breeding and either boredom or strict parents. Rei sensed an undercurrent of loneliness in Kazemaru's words that he could not hide while speaking Venusian, and all of her worries vanished. He just wanted to be friends, and he did call her Pyro, even as Aphrodite did.

"Fine, flirt as you will, but remember that, at the end of the day, Minako shares my bed and not yours." The Uranian laughed, nodding in agreement as the two princesses accepted him, glad to have found friends in the girls whom he had met only briefly at Serenity's presentation so long ago. Without Koshu's interference, perhaps they would be able to enjoy each others' company.

* * *

Asakaze had been on edge all day. Shinrai sipped his morning drink—a bitter tea made from the bark of some obscure Martian tree—and let his eyes wander through the daily reports as Asakaze paced across the dais. She had banished all of the nobles earlier in the day, unable to stand their presence, and even their young twin daughters had gone off to play away from the brooding blonde, leaving the rulers alone with a retinue of silent servants and attentive guards. Shinrai thought they deserved medals for so casually ignoring the queen's strange behavior when it was driving him to distraction.

Finally, the king reached his limit. "It is not ladylike to pace," he commented sharply, struggling to keep his tone civil. It wouldn't do to fight with his wife when she was so clearly on edge.

"It is not anything I can control," Asakaze growled, pink eyes sparkling with a spiritual pain she could neither identify nor dispel. "Something has changed, something is _missing_ , but I don't know what it could be."

"You just miss Minako," the King replied absently, a mildly fascinating story about weather patterns over Sunrise Bay catching his attention for a moment. "She has never been gone for so long before."

"She has been gone longer than any princess in recorded history on her Search."

"Well, if she had found her soul mate, she would have returned immediately. Maybe that Ritual of hers indicated someone on Mars who left just before she got there?" Asakaze knew that her husband did not truly believe in soul mates, and he often referred to it as a silly superstition, though he would never say such a thing among his wife's people. He at least knew how to be diplomatic about the customs he didn't understand.

Asakaze stopped pacing long enough to glare at her oblivious husband, finally identifying the dark fear gnawing at her heart. She had not warned Minako about the Curse all senshi carried to meet their soul's mate in a woman's body time and time again. On that day when she had visited Mars so long ago, she had found her soul mate in the eldest princess, and she still ached as she remembered their parting. Rikuriko had found the son of the High Duke of Phobos to be an acceptable partner for the Venusian princess, and Asakaze had returned to Venus with Shinrai, but she had never been truly happy. She cared about him, and he made the pain in her heart more bearable, but it was only the handful of visits she shared with Rikuriko every year that kept her from going insane. If Minako found her soul mate on Mars and was unable to make the decision her mother had, then their beloved planet would be in dire straits. She hoped that her daughter had been strong enough to resist the call of her soul, but she feared that Minako's long absence from the Court pointed toward the opposite.

A blast of trumpets announced the return of the High Princess to her palace, and Asakaze looked up in relief as Minako stepped through the golden doors of the throne room. Her daughter had chosen a golden dress for the occasion, red hearts embroidered along the hem and bodice, the modest gown and minimal jewelry somehow strikingly beautiful on the young woman. Asakaze's face fell as a second woman entered the throne room, the crimson-haired beauty a darker version of Rikuriko with amethyst eyes that promised great power. The second princess, Rei, wore a red silk gown embroidered with golden flames and sparkling with hundreds of tiny rubies to match the chains of red gems in her long hair. She walked close to Minako, her stance a clear challenge, and Asakaze knew that her daughter had found her soul mate.

"Matching dresses, Minako and Rei? How lovely. You must have become good friends on Mars." She kept her tone light and spoke in Standard to keep her emotions from showing, but Minako knew what her mother had implied with her phrase.

Minako smiled at her mother as she turned to glance at her father still sitting on his throne. "Father, Mother and I have to talk about my search for a soul mate, and I do not think you will find it interesting. If you prefer, I can wait to tell you about the exciting things I saw on Mars at supper tonight."

Shinrai nodded gratefully and stepped down from his dais, pausing to hug his daughter and kiss her on the cheek. He would never have hinted that he wanted to leave, but he was glad that his daughter could sense his unease without him uttering a word. "You are always so considerate, Minako. I will leave you ladies to your discussion. Princess Rei of Mars, will you be joining us for the meal?"

"I would love to, Your Majesty. Recent events have led me here briefly, but I must leave for the Moon in a few days. I hope to enjoy your hospitality until then."

"For a visiting princess, anything," the king promised, his amber eyes warm. "Especially the princess of my own home planet. I will have quarters arranged for you."

When the three women were alone in the throne room, Asakaze whirled on her daughter. "How could you? I thought you would understand the delicacy of the situation when you went to Mars. Is she your soul mate?"

"She is," Minako replied, reaching out to take Rei's hand. The Martian stayed silent, knowing that her lover had to fight this battle alone, as she had fought alone against her mother on that dusty training field.

Asakaze looked at their joined hands and sighed, turning away from her child and pacing back to her throne. "I have no idea why Rikuriko let her daughter be so careless, but I thought you would remember your lessons, Minako. The Ancient Laws clearly state that a great catastrophe will befall the Silver Millennium if two senshi are allowed to be together, no matter if they are soul mates or not."

"It's a mistranslation, you know." Somehow, when the queen had walked away, another visitor had slipped into the throne room. Asakaze glared at the tall blonde man leaning against the throne room door, his emerald eyes vibrant even for a noble. His accent marked him as Uranian, despite his simple suit, and the heavily jeweled scabbard on his waist looked achingly familiar.

"Who are you? How did you get past my guards? How did you bring a weapon into my palace when they are strictly forbidden on Royal Grounds?" The queen noticed that the two princesses did not seem to mind the Uranian's presence, so he had probably arrived with them. Even if he had come with Minako, she did not appreciate uninvited guests.

He shrugged, an irritating brush-off that was often a character flaw of high-born Uranians. They tended toward superiority complexes. "I am Kazemaru, child of the High Duke of Umbriel, and your guards never noticed the wind brushing past them." He tilted his head to one side, trying to decide how Asakaze would react to his words. "The Ancient Texts are written in a language that has been lost to time, but they have been translated multiple times over the centuries. You are quoting from the translation most favored on the Inner Planets, but the one favored on my world is the earliest Plutonian Translation. It says: 'the galaxy will be consumed by Time and the Moon will fall to the Earth in a harvest of ruin when two planets combine'. The word used for 'planet' is the same as the root word we use for 'senshi' but with a connotation that denotes the use of the _full power_ of the planets. Ignoring the nonsensical moon falling to the earth bit, the senshi have not had full access to their planets' powers in thousands of years, so you have little to fear from your daughter's relationship with the Princess of Mars."

Asakaze stopped short at the man's words, pink eyes wide. "The Mercurian Translation calls for the destruction 'when two senshi are together', using the _together_ usually reserved for a married couple. I have never heard of the planet's combining translation." She had never been the most scholarly of princesses, but she had learned the Laws as required when she was a child.

"I studied the texts for years. After I made some . . . life choices my Father disapproved of, I had plenty of free time to learn a few of the ancient languages and translate the texts for myself." He waved his long fingers nonchalantly, as if learning a new language had been a simple affair, and Asakaze had to fight the urge to roll her eyes. "The Plutonian Translation seems to be the most accurate. You might as well let them continue to be together until they decide that it is the proper time to follow your path." The Duke crossed his arms over his chest, clearly having said all that he believed needed to be said.

Asakaze turned back to Rei, her eyes narrowed in irritation. No matter the literal translation of the Laws, every princess had accepted that she could never be with her soul mate except in secret after her lineage was secure. "I would think Rikuriko would have stopped you from doing this, especially since you two have clearly become lovers."

Rei shrugged and made an odd twisting motion with her right hand, grinning as the Mars henshin stick appeared in her grasp. She still wasn't used to that warm surge of power when she called for it. "She tried," the princess admitted with a hint of pride in her youthful tone, "but I Challenged her and won the right to make my own choices."

"No, that can't be," Asakaze whispered in shock. Rikuriko had lost her henshin stick to her daughter? But she had been so powerful . . . how much stronger must Rei be to have beaten her? How much stronger would she grow? Asakaze had never heard of a Princess Challenging for the right to stay with her soul mate, and no one as young as Rei had ever won the right to be Sailor Mars in a fair fight.

"I'm sure you will receive an official report by the end of the day," Kazemaru murmured from the door, his husky voice oddly familiar to the queen. "The fight was both fair and spectacular; you ought to watch it."

Asakaze dismissed the Uranian's soft words with a furious flick of her wrist, pink eyes glaring at her daughter. "Minako, I cannot let you go to the Moon with Rei. You have to distance yourself from her and let this teenage crush fade. I can never announce to the Court that your soul mate is a woman, any more than I could announce that you failed to find the person shown to you in your Ritual. If they ever found out what I did decades ago to protect this kingdom, there could be a revolution. Knowing our soul mate and always finding them is our birthright as the descendants of Aphrodite, and our people must always believe that their Queens uphold the sacred Ritual. Until you agree to follow in my footsteps and the footsteps of countless heartbroken queens before me, I cannot let you have the Venus henshin stick." Sighing, Minako held her own hand out, summoning the henshin stick that had answered to Asakaze for decades. "What? How did you get that?" That was why she had been feeling uneasy for the past day. She had lost her Sailor Venus powers without noticing.

"It came to me when I needed it to protect Rei. My soul mate was in danger, and Venus responded by sending me this. I'm sorry, Mother, but as Sailor Venus I am letting you know that I will be with Rei for as long as I want. We are going to the Moon to train, then I will decide how I want to live the rest of my life."

"What will I tell our people?"

The blonde shrugged, turning on one heel toward the door, the Martian princess and Uranian duke falling in behind her, declaring her their rightful leader with their actions. "Tell them that my soul mate must have left Mars before I arrived, but I have decided to perform my duties to Queen Serenity as Sailor Venus before resuming my search. Or tell them that Rei is my soul mate and I will be with her for as long as possible. Aphrodite gave us this gift, the ability to know our soul mate, so that we can decide what to do with the knowledge we gain from it. I have made my decision; now it is time for you to make yours."

As the trio left the Queen alone in her throne room, she sighed and covered her face with her hands. Minako had always been the perfect princess, but her love for the Martian was clouding her judgment. Perhaps after she spent some time training on the Moon, she would be ready to take a husband. _Or,_ her insidious inner voice whispered, _she might have become so close to Rei that she refuses to ever give her up._


	7. Meeting of the Planets

**Chapter 7: Meeting of the Planets**

* * *

_January 22, 8983_

* * *

The Moon had been the center of the Silver Millennium for as long as anyone could remember, and the beautiful palace towering over the bustling capital city was the most permanent landmark on that shining silver sphere. In the past few thousand years, however, a second landmark had grown nearby, a much smaller building colored in silver and gold, a temple of sorts to a young godling and his obsession with his beloved but vanished sister. Setsuna stood across the street from the tall temple for hours, unmoving, barely blinking, as hundreds of supplicants and cultists passed through the tall doors throughout the day. Her plan had been to enter the temple, speak with Tranquility, and immediately leave, but she still stood, frozen in place, hours after appearing on the Moon. Her memories of the happy times she shared with Tranquility and his twin sister Serenity long ago filled her mind, threatening to overwhelm her senses. The image of Serenity vanishing in a shower of silver dust inevitably followed, the goddess banishing herself to save a future even Pluto could not see.

"Are you ready to come in, yet?"

Setsuna finally moved, turning to face the winged white-robed man who had joined her in her vigil hours before, his golden hair the same brilliant shade she had known in her youth, his sad blue eyes waiting for her response. No one else would have dared to approach the brooding queen, the mortals well-aware of her solitary nature. "There is nothing here for me."

"I am here, Se. I will always be here for you, whether you want me to be or not." He raised one arm, gesturing toward his temple. "Come inside and see the beautiful art my priests and priestesses have dedicated to her."

Sighing, Setsuna nodded, following the taller man into the cool refuge of the temple, her black dress still sparkling in the light from the gems Aphrodite had used to decorate it. They entered the temple in silence, Setsuna taking a moment to silently admire the stained-glass depictions of her lost friend before entering a small room behind the altar with her male companion. They each took a seat silently, the golden man patient as the dark senshi tried to decide what to say.

"I never planned to come here."

"I know."

"I think your quest to find Serenity is both foolish and doomed. I do not think you should give your followers the power to sense true love or the power to influence the direction of a heart. That is Eros's domain, and you should leave it be."

"I have heard all of this before, Se. And only the most loyal of my followers ever receive a bow and wings. Only they who have ascended to the level of godling can help me search the world for any trace of Serenity. I have done nothing not permitted by my parents and the Pantheon."

Setsuna looked up at him then, worry in her garnet eyes as she extended a data crystal to her old friend. He inserted it into a nearby computer, watching as Setsuna's time knot filled the air before him, fluctuating as new data from Pluto was added. "Do you see? That section at the top is related to your Cupids in some way."

"I see it," he murmured, tapping a few controls and magnifying the spot tinged pink. "There is a black line woven through this section, and a silver one right next to it. Perhaps this means that we can stop the catastrophe if my Cupids can find Serenity."

"Or it means that your search for Serenity is hopeless and something evil is coming for you and your Cupids. I came to you, Tranquility, after Aphrodite noticed that section. There have been two events recently that cleared some of the knot away, and I hoped that you could help me save the Silver Millennium from the coming disaster."

The godling nodded, copying the data into his own computers as he handed the crystal back to the Queen of Pluto. "I will have my Council gather all of the active Cupids on the Moon and Earth, and we will determine the source of this darkness. You will see that my Cult of the Broken Wing can help you."

"I hope so," Setsuna admitted, rising to leave. "There are parts of my past that I never want to remember, but we have always been friends. I am glad that I have your support in this, Tranquility."

* * *

Makoto stood silently behind Ami as the princess gave her report to the Queen and King of Jupiter, her three brothers lined up behind her. Meika nodded as Ami finished, turning to summon someone from her reception chamber before standing from her throne. "I do not know much about the Uranus situation, but what Queen Yumemi told you is true. There is a Full Council on Titan in a few weeks."

"We expect you two to accompany us to that meeting." Ami gasped as her mother emerged from behind the throne, ice blue eyes locked on her daughter. "I came to discuss the situation on Titan with Meika, and we have decided that both of you are ready to be the next generation of senshi to defend this galaxy."

"I haven't finished my survey yet," Ami argued, eyes wide as her blue-haired mother held out the Mercury henshin stick without hesitation. "I'm not ready." She would never be ready, as her mother well knew, but she had to take the power willingly.

"You have to be," Amami replied earnestly. "We queens are getting old, and our power is waning while yours is growing exponentially. Meika received a report today that the daughter of Queen Rikuriko defeated her mother in a fierce battle for the Mars henshin stick. It was one of the most epic battles between a current and future Sailor Mars that I have ever seen, that I have ever even heard of. Just before the end of the fight, Minako, daughter of Asakaze, managed to force her Sailor Venus transformation without ever having seen the henshin stick, and that is unheard of. Minako is your age, Ami, and Rei is only a few months older. There have never been senshi so powerful and yet so young. The leader and second-in-command of the Inner Senshi have transformed; now they need a team to lead. You two are that team, not Meika and myself. We are old; it is your time to fight, now."

When Amami held the henshin stick out for a second time, Ami did not hesitate. She gasped as a cool rush of sensation flowed through her slender frame, the uniform of Sailor Mercury replacing her travel garb and a tiara appearing on her forehead. She felt her consciousness pulled in a thousand different directions as her mind worked overtime to analyze her environment and calculate to the last detail what action each person might take next, extrapolating past relationships and future desires. She watched impassively as Meika descended from her throne, having already deduced that the Queen of Jupiter would also pass on her henshin stick, smiling as her strong guard transformed into Sailor Jupiter in a swirl of lightning.

Makoto and Ami released their transformations, staring at their mothers in wonder at the turn the meeting had taken. Neither one of them had expected to leave the throne room as Sailor Senshi, but clearly that had been the plan of the queens all along. Amami moved to stand beside Meika's throne, her daughter cataloguing every action for future analysis. "Now that you two are senshi, you must travel to the Moon and begin your training with Venus and Mars. I am sorry to have thrown you into battle so quickly, but this Council meeting indicates that there might be a fight and you need to be prepared."

"We understand," Makoto replied, bowing to the throne before marching out of the room with her brothers on her heels. Ami and her research team followed moments later, something she had seen bothering the Mercurian princess.

Makoto led the group to the Royal Wing of the palace, her brothers taking their guests to quarters where they could freshen up before the midday meal and their departure, but Ami, lost in thought, absently followed the green-haired princess into her chambers. Makoto closed the door and watched as Ami sank into the nearest sofa, her blue eyes distant as calculations swam through her mind. Shrugging, Makoto removed the rust-colored armor she had been wearing that morning, dropping it on a nearby table to be cleaned as she headed for her private bath.

When she emerged ten minutes later, running a comb through her damp locks and wondering how long it would take to get her hair dryer fixed, Ami was still sitting on the small couch, sapphire eyes staring blankly into space. Crossing her arms over her chest, Makoto cleared her throat, wondering what the genius was thinking about. Ami glanced up at the noise, blushing furiously and turning away at the other woman's state of undress. "I . . . uh . . . Mako, you're naked."

"Happens after you take a shower." Makoto tilted her head to one side as she realized that Ami wasn't going to take the opportunity to look at her, so she was going to have to take the first step. "Don't you like what you see?"

Ami's blush darkened and she swallowed convulsively a few times before she was able to answer. "I've never seen . . . and you have very large . . . I don't think I should look."

"I think you should," Makoto purred, walking forward and kneeling before Ami on the couch. She reached out and cupped Ami's cheek in one hand, smiling gently at the smaller woman as blue eyes met green. "Do you think my breasts are too large?"

Ami shook her head, letting herself smile a little. "They just don't look the same as when you were wearing your armor."

"Of course not; I have to bind them a bit so that I can fight easily. Otherwise they are always getting in the way."

"I hear that on Earth there are women warriors called Amazons who cut off one of their breasts so they can shoot arrows without that problem." Imparting knowledge was Ami's natural reaction to embarrassment, but at least her blush faded somewhat.

"Really? That might help, but I kind of like both of mine just fine." Makoto leaned forward and kissed Ami's forehead, smiling as she stood and walked over to her closet. "You should get cleaned up before the midday meal; we'll have to leave right after."

"They're lovers."

Makoto turned back to Ami after slipping a shift over her head, raising one eyebrow at the certainty in the other woman's eyes. "Who?"

"Meika and Amami. They have been for some time. I have been analyzing what I observed in the throne room and I think I figured it out."

Makoto shook her head in denial as she pulled a gold-accented green dress from her closet. Although she preferred suits and armor, her father insisted that she dress in a ladylike manner while she was in Court. She didn't usually mind it, but she would miss the casual dress code of Ami's survey mission. "Ami, there's no way. Mother has been happily married to my father for years and they have four children. Why would she jeopardize that by taking a lover?"

"I think it's the other way around. They married to cover up their relationship." She watched as Makoto slipped into her gown and sat in front of her mirror to brush her hair. "Do you suppose the Ancient Laws forbid a marriage between two senshi because it is likely to happen if the princesses follow their own hearts?"

"I think it might happen . . . if I were to follow my own heart," Makoto admitted softly. A long silence stretched between them as Ami considered the Jovian's words, trying to decide what she should do about her feelings for Makoto. The green-haired princess knew that her shy companion did not know what to say, so she carefully moved the conversation back to her suggestion when she emerged from her shower. "Ami, my servants will be here in a moment to fix my hair and makeup. If you'd like to wash up, I can have something brought for you to wear, too."

"Thank you, Mako; I will."

* * *

Rei had only ever visited the Moon Palace once, and she had been so young she barely remembered anything. Standing outside of the huge building, Minako on one side and Kazemaru on the other, she let herself revel in the awe inspired by the sight. "It is a lovely palace."

"I wouldn't have expected a Martian to say that," Kazemaru replied, his voice teasing as always. "Beauty is not your strong point."

"And you don't know when to be serious. This is a big moment for us, coming to the Moon to meet the Princess and begin to train."

The Uranian shrugged. "I've spent too much of my life serious, and I imagine that most of the rest of it will also be like that. Sometimes we just need to relax and have fun."

"Well, you have certainly chosen a good place for that," Minako observed, watching as a handful of her servants carried their luggage into the palace, a Lunarian servant running off to fetch the queen. "The Moon Kingdom is the most peaceful place in the entire Silver Millennium. For a few days, we will have feasts and visit with the Royal Family along with the princesses of Jupiter and Mercury, but once we start training we won't have time to hang out with you. I hope you can keep yourself occupied, Kazemaru."

"I'm sure I can find something to do," he replied, his emerald eyes sparkling with mischief. He paused suddenly, turning to stare into the distance, his stance catching the attention of the two princesses.

"What?"

"A storm is brewing," he whispered, his eyes glowing with a strange light. On his left side, hidden from his two traveling companions, the Space Sword glowed in excitement for just a moment. Shaking his head to clear the echoes of the premonition, he found that he was looking at a silver and gold temple in the distance, the tall spires calling to him. "What is that temple?"

Minako shrugged. "That's the Temple of Serenity." When her companions looked at her in confusion, she explained its origin. "Legend has it that there were once three young gods who roamed the cosmos, playing together as the best of friends. Two of them were twins of light, Serenity and Tranquility, and the third was the dark daughter of Hades, but her name has been long since lost. They created the first Sailor Senshi, the ones before the Patron Gods decided to get involved, and founded the nine kingdoms ten thousand or so years ago. Serenity the goddess, daughter of Eros and Psyche, was the parent—and that's the exact wording, _parent_ instead of _mother_ —of the first Queen Serenity of the Moon, though the name of the other parent is unknown. She united the kingdoms and thus began the Silver Millennium. At some point, a few thousand years later, the goddess Serenity saw a dark future for our kingdoms if she remained alive, so she scattered herself to the cosmic winds on the condition that she would be reborn when 'the Moonlight shines in the Darkness and the Wind and the Sea give birth to the Sun'.

"Her death drove her brother almost insane, but in time he calmed and formed a cult of loyal followers to help him find his sister and determine the meaning of the prophecy. The most loyal he promotes to Cupids, giving them wings and the ability to influence love in others. Most of us don't believe that they have any real power other than their wings, but they worship him and his lost sister. They call him Cupid #1 Alpha and they themselves are called the Cult of the Broken Wing. The people of the Moon tolerate their presence, but their fanaticism and power make everyone uneasy. There are other temples in some of the kingdoms, but this is their power base."

"I'd like to see that prophecy."

Minako nodded, having expected that reaction. "This is probably the only place in the entire Silver Millennium where you can. The Palace keeps a paper where Tranquility scribbled the words, but I have always thought that it was incomplete."

"A physical paper? Is it not on the InfoNet?"

"No. Many generations ago, the Queen of Pluto banned any electronic copies of many of the earliest prophecies. They only exist in their original printed forms, though most of those started to vanish about seven thousand years ago, and the ones that are left are probably buried in a vault on Pluto somewhere. I'll take you to see that one, though."

The trio looked up as a flurry of activity and a blaring of trumpets announced the arrival of Queen Serenity to the courtyard amid a cloud of ladies, advisors, and guards. Minako, Rei, and Kazemaru stepped forward, their own small retinue of servants clustered behind them. The silver-haired queen, her lavender eyes kind and wise, smiled at the trio of travelers, holding out one hand, palm facing outwards, in the traditional Lunar greeting. "Welcome to the Moon."

"We are honored to be here," Minako replied, touching palms with the Queen before dropping to a curtsy. Rei echoed her curtsy while Kazemaru bowed. "I am Minako, High Princess of Venus, current Sailor Venus."

"You are most welcome here, Minako. Please, introduce your companions."

There was an old—often considered very odd—tradition on the Moon that the leader of each group would introduce herself and all of her companions, no matter if they were all of equal rank. Kazemaru had heard of the tradition, but it felt weird not to introduce himself to the High Queen of the Silver Millennium.

"This is High Princess Rei of Mars, current Sailor Mars, and this is Kazemaru of Uranus, son of the High Duke of Umbriel." The blonde Uranian resisted the urge to wince as Minako referred to him as a _son_ , but in all fairness he did dress and act the part of a man. He, however, always introduced himself as the _child_ of the High Duke, rather than the _son_. "We heard that the princesses of Jupiter and Mercury will be joining us."

Queen Serenity nodded. "I have received that information, as well. They are supposed to arrive tonight, so I have prepared a great feast to honor all of you. I am glad to see a new generation of senshi taking up the mantle of protecting this kingdom. Please, let me show you to your suite." The queen turned back to the palace, her flock fanning out around her in a new pattern that left space for the three newcomers to walk by her side.

The huge entrance hall shone in the sunlight from the windows high overhead, the effect dazzling to the three guests. Serenity led the trio down a large side corridor, a plush white carpet on the floor to muffle the sounds of footsteps, paintings covering the walls on either side. They reached a set of golden doors moments after entering the hall, the queen smiling as her servants reached for the handles. "This is the largest guest suite in the palace. There is a main room, as you can see, and five bedrooms branching off. Each bedroom has a private bath, and the door in the back leads to the princess's private gardens. I have assigned these servants to you while you are here, so if you need anything, please just ask." All of the servants who had followed the queen—Kazemaru counted twenty in total—separated themselves from the main group and filled the room, entering the private rooms in pairs to organize and stock them. "Since Duke Kazemaru traveled here with you, I assume you want him to stay in these chambers with you? There are enough rooms if you do, otherwise I can arrange accommodations for him across the hall."

"Kazemaru can stay here," Rei replied off-handedly, already walking around the room to examine a pair of statues sitting on a corner table. "He isn't much trouble, in any case."

"Will you require more servants, then? I can have some man-servants assigned to you."

Kazemaru shook his head. "No, Your Majesty, that will not be necessary. My father never had much use for personal servants, and I am used to taking care of myself without them." Indeed, over the last five or so years, Kazemaru had rarely used his servants for serving, more for flirtation games and sexual release. Once his father had learned of that, all of the female servants in the palace had been reassigned and he had been given a trio of very silent manservants from Pluto who cleaned his suite and provided what he needed but did nothing to alleviate the boredom of palace life. He did not miss that at all.

"As you wish. Please, take your time settling in. I have many important meetings today so I will not be able to enjoy the midday meal with you, but I will have a servant bring you to supper after the other two arrive."

* * *

Queen Serenity stopped dead at the sight that met her eyes. Lounging in the ornate throne-like chair at the head of the conference table as if she belonged there, sat a brooding queen who had vowed to never again visit the Moon after the Presentation of Serenity fourteen years earlier. The dark woman turned her head as the silver-haired queen dismissed her servants and advisors, garnet eyes calling for her across the room. "I was wondering if you were going to take all day with those princesses, Serenity."

The queen swallowed, not used to being at a loss for words, as the tall, green-haired woman stood from the throne and sauntered across the room. Her customary long, black dress sparkled in the light, and Serenity found herself remembering the ball on Jupiter where they first met. "Hello, Setsuna."

"It is good to see you again, Serenity. How is your daughter?"

"She is strong and spirited, and she will grow into a graceful woman and a wonderful queen. Would you like to see her?"

Setsuna shook her head, standing an arms-length away from her regent. "I came on business, and I cannot stay long. In a few weeks, I and the other queens and senshi are going to have a Full Council on Titan. Princess Hotaru is awakening as Sailor Saturn."

"What?! There hasn't been a Saturn in almost two thousand years!"

"I know. There is a huge distortion in the time continuum that I cannot unravel, so I have been traveling to the various planets to see if I can solve it."

"Why are you here?"

Setsuna smiled and reached out, resting a hand on Serenity's cheek. "I've missed you," she whispered, the threat of tears in her voice. "I wasn't going to visit the palace, but I found it impossible to stay away once I was on the Moon."

Nuzzling Setsuna's hand briefly, Serenity reached up and pulled it away to stop the desire threatening to fill her frame, holding it gently in her own hand. "Why did you come here in the first place, Setsuna?"

"I had to speak with Tranquility." The pain in Setsuna's voice brought tears to Serenity's eyes, and she felt the dark queen reach up again to brush them away. Even after fourteen years, Setsuna could still calm the smaller woman. "He has mobilized his Cupids to try to identify a dark tangle in the time knot. Being in his temple brought back a lot of old memories, most of them very painful, so I wanted to see you. In the past seven thousand years, I have only truly been happy with you."

"You could stay for a while," she offered, knowing that her former lover would refuse.

"I can't. You're a temptation I could never resist. I just needed to see you for a moment. Please, tell your daughter that I would have liked to see her if I had more time."

"The Senshi of Time talking about not having enough?"

Setsuna grinned and stepped back, calling on her Sailor Pluto transformation, Time Staff appearing in her hand. "We never have enough time for the ones we love." She vanished in a flash of garnet light, Serenity falling into a nearby chair as silence filled the room. Seeing Setsuna again . . . had shaken her. All of the memories of the good times they shared vied for attention in her mind, but she focused on the last time she had seen the dark queen. Setsuna had been standing in her royal chambers, a silent baby in Serenity's arms and tears in both of their eyes. She remembered watching as her beloved Sailor Pluto vanished from her life, and it had taken her years to get used to being alone. Seeing Setsuna, touching her for the first time in fourteen years, almost shattered the fragile control she had built to protect her heart from the loneliness. The silver-haired queen sat in the silent conference room for hours, struggling to regain her former calm. She was mostly successful.

* * *

The wind blowing across the sea drove the waves to crash against the base of the great castle, staining the dark blue marble with white foam. Watching the elements vent their fury, the aqua-haired princess sitting in her room high overhead felt something in her soul stir in agitation. The sea had always called to her with its healing beauty, but there was a _need_ on the wind this morning that she could not identify. If only she could look into the Aqua Mirror . . . but her mother kept it locked away where it could not bother her.

"Michiru."

The princess looked up from her thoughts, a data pad forgotten in her hands. Her mother, a tall woman with aqua and blue hair highlighted in white, glared at her only child with cold teal eyes. Michiru did not remember many moments of warmth from her mother, a woman mourning her lost love. Michiru's father had died before she was born, and all of the servants blamed Shousha's attitude on losing Tsuyu, but Michiru suspected that he was not the source of the queen's pain. "I thought you were studying."

"I finished everything on your list for today and tomorrow." Her voice was calm and unwavering, even in the face of her mother's harsh criticism. Nothing Michiru have ever accomplished in her life seemed to matter to the harsh woman; she demanded more, and better, every time.

"Then why haven't you started memorizing the speeches of the first Neptunian Queens?"

Michiru turned back to her window and suppressed the urge to tell her mother how boring she found those speeches, trying to decide the best way to express the odd urge she felt as she watched the waters slam into the base of the castle. "The sea is stormy," she whispered, her teal eyes darkening almost to sapphire. Shousha started at her only daughter's words, struggling to hide her shock as the princess turned back to her. "In any case, I decided to read some of the Ancient Prophecies and the multitude of translations of the Ancient Laws. There are some serious discrepancies between the various translations, and it is impossible to know which one is the most accurate."

"The prophecies are all too obscure for it to matter what language they were translated into, but the Ancient Laws have accepted translations already. It is pointless to study them now. Memorize your speeches." Shousha turned to leave, having already decided to check the Aqua Mirror to see what had set off her daughter's premonition, but she stopped halfway across the room. "I heard that you dismissed another servant today."

"She said my hair was the color of seaweed."

"It is," Shousha replied flatly.

Michiru tossed her wavy aqua hair over her shoulder, miffed that her mother's quick observation mimicked that of the dismissed servant. "It is the color of the ocean when the sun shines through the depths and it has the texture of finest silk. She also fumbled multiple times when she was fixing my makeup, and I cannot have mistakes that might mar my appearance."

The queen sighed, knowing what a lost cause her slightly narcissistic daughter could be sometimes. She had never been so much trouble when she was a young princess. "Do you know how hard it is to find servants who will even enter your chambers these days? You have them terrified that one slip-up will end their easy jobs in the Royal Palace."

"Nonsense. I hear that you hire them into your wing if I reject them."

"Sometimes you are impossible." As Shousha left her reception room, Michiru allowed herself a brief smile. The servant had not been bad, but the only rebellion she had ever been allowed was the right to dismiss her own servants. She barely needed any servants at all, so she kept a minimum staff to take care of her dresses, hair, and makeup. She was tidy enough that her servants only had to spot clean, so the few she had were the happiest in the palace.

* * *

Shousha glared at the dark surface of the mirror, fighting back a headache as she tried to _see_ what had worried her daughter. No matter how long she stared, the Mirror remained black, the henshin stick silent in her hand. She had not tried to transform or look into the mirror in over twenty years, and now it was clear that she would never be able to again. What should she do?

"You must pass them on to Michiru," a dark voice answered her unspoken question. Sighing, Shousha turned, not the least bit surprised to find Sailor Pluto standing uninvited in the center of her armory. "You did not answer my message."

"I do not plan to attend your meeting," the blue-haired queen replied, her teal eyes hard and unyielding, as they had been since the day Kazeko died. "No matter the crisis, I am not interested in seeing the other queens and kings any time soon. I suppose you forgot what happened the last time we all gathered."

"I have not forgotten," Pluto replied, an old pain in her soft voice. "Unlike all of you, I am not afforded the luxury of _forgetting_ anything." Her garnet eyes bored into Shousha's teal until the latter turned away in surrender. "You have your annual trip to Uranus in two days, and after that you must board a ship to Titan. It is clear to me now that the Neptune henshin stick no longer responds to you, so it would be a good idea to pass it on to your daughter before your trip."

"I will decide when it is time to pass it on."

"Michiru is already having premonitions. She is beginning to feel a disaster coming, one you cannot see without the cooperation of the Aqua Mirror." Pluto wrapped both of her hands around the Time Staff, darkening eyes challenging the younger queen. "You will come to Titan after you visit Oberon. You do not want me to come fetch you."

Shousha sighed and turned away from her one-time friend. She remembered fighting alongside the dark queen during the uprising on Pluto, back when the queens had been strong senshi and she and no yet known the loss of her beloved Kazeko. In deference for the allies they once had been, she decided to acquiesce. "No, I don't." Accepting that Shousha would not break her reluctant agreement, Pluto vanished in a flash of sound, leaving the brooding queen alone with her quiescent mirror.

* * *

Makoto and Ami followed the Lunarian servants into the spacious Moon Palace, one of them offering some excuse for Queen Serenity's absence that involved meetings, while another explained the history of the building and the various pieces of artwork they passed. The Jovian rolled her eyes, but restrained her impatience when she noticed that her scholarly companion seemed genuinely interested in something the servant was explaining. They reached their destination faster than Makoto had expected, one of the servants opening a pair of silver-inlaid opalescent doors to reveal a huge gathering room that rivaled the princess's own chambers in Io Palace in both size and beauty.

"Wow," she breathed, watching as the servants scurried into two adjacent side rooms, one carrying her belongings and the other carrying Ami's. "I didn't realize the rooms here would be so beautiful."

"The Moon Palace is known for its luxuriance," Ami replied, walking slowly around the chamber, examining the plush couches, embroidered cushions, and elegant tables. "My mother would have a fit if she saw so much unused space."

"Ah, our other guests have finally arrived."

Both princesses looked up at the husky voice, shocked to find a tall, blonde-haired man watching them from beside one of the other bedroom doors, his emerald eyes sparkling with humor and something else that made Ami blush. "H-hi," she managed, unable to determine what about the noble man sent shocks through her body or why her legs were suddenly weak. Makoto, sensing her friend's predicament, walked over and took Ami's arm, leading her to a couch where she could sit down.

An irritated sigh followed a crimson-haired woman into the room, her amethyst eyes glaring at the blonde man. "You should be more careful where you point those things, Kazemaru. I think you almost gave her a heart attack." Turning back to Makoto and Ami, the red-head smiled, putting both of them at ease. "Please forgive Kazemaru; he's a shameless flirt, but he's mostly harmless."

"Hey!" Kazemaru's objection fell on deaf ears as the red-head, whose appearance and poise marked her as Martian royal stock, approached the newcomers.

"I'm Rei, High Princess of Mars and the current Sailor Mars."

"I'm Makoto, Sailor Jupiter, and this is Ami, Sailor Mercury." She hesitated for a moment, not quite sure how to address the issue of the blonde noble man. "We didn't know you had a suitor with you."

Kazemaru chuckled at the statement, stepping closer to Rei and running a gentle hand down her arm, feigning injury when the Martian slapped his hand away. "He is certainly not my suitor, and please don't give him any ideas. He's just some scoundrel we picked up on Venus and we can't seem to get rid of him."

Kazemaru stood taller, straightening his suit jacket before offering a bow to the two new princesses. "I am Kazemaru, child of the High Duke of Umbriel. I am also currently single, so if either of you ladies is currently looking for a mate . . ."

"We're fine, thanks," Makoto replied dryly, sensing that the Uranian was teasing them. She had never known a Uranian who wasn't a shameless flirt, though she had met quite a few more women than men. They had all been harmless, though, as Rei had mentioned. Ami smiled shyly, her Mercurian mind noting that the duke's boots had a bit of heel to give him added stature, while his coat seemed a bit loose at the waist.

Her observations were interrupted by the arrival of their fourth senshi member, a slender blonde with intense blue eyes who glided gracefully into the room and offered a curtsy to the newcomers. "I am Minako, High Princess of Venus, and it is wonderful to have you both here. I know you had a long trip, so please take a moment to refresh yourselves before the dinner in an hour."

Ami watched Rei's reaction to the blonde, her mind furiously connecting the dots. The Martian's eyes dilated slightly when the Venusian entered the room, the pulse visible on her neck increasing as her smile deepened. She never looked away from the blonde, and she seemed to be holding herself back slightly. The Uranian, on the other hand, seemed to ignore Minako, despite his shameless flirting with both Ami and Rei moments before. Since Minako herself, as a Venusian, lived to flirt and would never refuse his attention even after marriage, she could not have been the one to curb Kazemaru's tongue. If not her . . . then Rei must have warned him off the blonde, a possessive action common among Martians toward threats to their partners. Were Rei and Minako lovers, then?

"Are you lovers?"

Ami shrunk back into the couch cushions as four pairs of shocked eyes turned to her, the Mercurian belatedly realizing that she had asked the question out loud. Kazemaru broke the silence with a chuckle, turning to Rei and shrugging. "She's a Mercurian, and the planetary senshi at that. She has deductive reasoning skills you can only dream of."

Ami nodded reluctantly, hoping that she had not alienated her new friends. "The signs are subtle, but other than your intense physical reaction to Minako, it's obvious that you warned Kazemaru to leave her alone, as any Martian would to protect her mate."

"It could be that Minako isn't his type," Makoto offered, offering the other two senshi a way out of confessing.

Rei snorted, reaching out to pull Minako into her arms. "Kazemaru doesn't have a type, and no one would believe him if he claimed to. You're right, of course, but we would prefer if you kept it among us."

"I would never tell," Ami promised. "My mother and Makoto's mother are also lovers."

"So are my mother and Rei's," Minako replied, shrugging. "We are told that a senshi's soul mate can only be born into a female body, one with power, so I assumed that all of us and all of our ancestors have senshi soul mates. The Ancient Laws will eventually separate us, but for now Rei and I are happy."

"You two should get ready for the dinner," Kazemaru offered gently, sensing that Ami was becoming uncomfortable talking about relationships. He guessed that the little blue-eyed woman had feelings for her tall companion that she had yet to figure out, but a little time on the Moon with people who would not judge them should help the pair settle into a relationship. The Mercurian looked up at him gratefully, excusing herself as she headed for her room and a quick bath. Makoto left, as well, and Kazemaru glanced over at his friends. "How long do you think they'll take?"

"Five days," Rei guessed, having noticed the same signs that had intrigued her Uranian companion. "Makoto is confident, but Ami will take some time both to get used to the idea of a relationship at all, let alone the idea of one with another woman."

"No, they will only take two days," Minako countered, blue eyes confident. "They've already done some of the initial things, like cuddling and kissing, so intimacy will follow quickly, Mercurian or not."

"Three days," Kazemaru argued. "Makoto will not want to push Ami, and Ami doesn't want to disappoint her Jovian. It will take them one day to become accustomed to the Moon and to us and one more day to do something romantic, like walking in the gardens alone or stargazing from the rooftop. After that, Makoto will be so wound up that even Ami will catch on to the mood, and they'll be lovers by the third day."

"You have it all planned out."

The Uranian grinned at Rei as he walked toward the doors leading out into the garden. "I have seduced dozens of women from every planet in the Silver Millennium, and I know how each one will react—and how long it will take to get them into my bed—from the moment I meet them. Jovians, like our dear Makoto, are brash and confident, much like Uranians, but without that burning passion thing you Martians seem to have in spades. If it weren't for your mothers and the restriction of the Ancient Laws, the two of you would have been together the first night." With that parting observation, he slipped out of the suite, heading deep into the private garden and leaving the Martian and Venusian alone.

"He's right, you know," Rei murmured, leaning down and gently nipping Minako's neck, her amethyst eyes darkening. "I wanted you as soon as I saw you, but I couldn't identify those emotions until later. If we had ended your search when you recognized me as your soul mate, I would have walked you to my room immediately and had my way with you."

Minako shivered at the desire coloring her lover's voice, glancing at the clock on the wall before grabbing Rei's hand and leading her into one of their rooms. There was no sense in wasting the hour before dinner.


	8. Sword Dances

**Chapter 8: Sword Dances**

* * *

_January 22, 8983 – January 24, 8983_

* * *

The immense garden hidden between the wings of the palace was beautiful, despite Haruka's aversion to the word. She stood still on a crystal-studded path among the rainbow of flowers and well-tended bushes and let herself relax for the first time in weeks. Wind rushed to surround her tall form, whispering secrets that she couldn't yet understand, and she raised her arms, emerald eyes closed, enjoying the sensation.

"Do you like my gardens so much?"

Haruka had trained as a warrior her entire life, so the shock she felt at the appearance of the other woman never manifested itself in her stance. She turned slightly and opened her emerald eyes, falling to her knees as she instantly identified the owner of both the voice and the gardens. "Princess," she whispered, keeping her voice restrained to the husky, masculine register she had adopted years earlier. She should have expected to see the young Moon Princess at some point, but not like this.

The girl standing before the Wind Senshi was only fourteen, her slender form clad in a flowing silvery white dress and her golden hair reaching her ankles from two buns that matched the ones her mother wore. "Don't bow to me here," she whispered, watching the blonde rise to her feet. "I never want to see you on your knees, Haruka."

The Uranian's emerald eyes widened in shock as she felt her masculine image shattered in an instant by this tiny, blue-eyed princess. "How did you know?"

Serenity smiled and walked deeper into the garden, the warrior princess compelled to follow. "My mother received a report this morning from Miranda Castle. Apparently, the Princess of Uranus, her henshin stick, and the Space Sword were suddenly abducted a few days ago. King Koshu has gathered the War Queens' Council and declared a state of emergency, requesting permission from my mother to mobilize his troops to search the entire Silver Millennium for his missing daughter." She glanced over her shoulder at her companion, a smile on her lips. "But I knew your identity as soon as I saw you, before my mother ever greeted you this morning. I've been waiting for your arrival."

"Why?"

"Because on the day I was born, you promised to be my protector, and I need you."

There was something in the princess's tone that silenced any argument from the Uranian as the pair settled onto an elegant bench overlooking a small pond. Haruka looked down at her hands, unsure if she should ask the question burning in her mind. "What threatens you, princess?" She was sure that the princess had expected her query, so there was no use in prevaricating. "And how can you remember something that happened the day you were born? Babies cannot form memories."

"Not usually, no. But we daughters of the ginzuishou are a bit different. You swore to me in Lunarian, a bond that can never be broken, and it was something I surely needed to remember, so I do. Will you honor your vow and protect me?"

Haruka waved her hand uncertainly across the garden at the small porch leading back into the suite she shared with the four senshi. "Your senshi are here now, Princess, the Inner Senshi who are meant to be your guardians while I protect us from outside threats. Why do you need me and not one or all of them?"

"Because they did not make the vow you did. I'm going to visit someone and I need a protector who won't tell my mother. They could never agree to that. Will you honor your vow, Uranus Haruka?" Her tone was no more insistent the second time she asked, but Haruka knew that she could not avoid replying a second time.

"Of course I will," the blonde responded without hesitation, unable to answer any other way. If her princess needed her, then she would always be there. "Please don't tell anyone who I really am. I need this time away from everything."

"I can understand that," Serenity whispered, glancing up at the Earth hanging overhead. "I will take you to meet someone in four days' time, _Kazemaru_ , and you will see why I need you and not any of them."

Haruka was quite sure she wouldn't like Serenity's reason.

* * *

Makoto woke slowly, her dreams begging her not to leave, but some vague sense of impending danger forced her return to consciousness. Emerald eyes shot open to find a slender, slightly curved sword hovering inches from her throat, a blonde Uranian smirking at her from the other end. "You should be more alert while you sleep, Jovian."

Sighing, Makoto slumped back against her pillows, watching the blonde warrior sheathe his sword. That scabbard, covered in jewels, looked so familiar, but she couldn't remember where she had seen it before. The sword's hilt was also a strange, twisted shape, but Uranians were known for their eccentric weapons. "Of course you would wake someone with a sword."

"I had to wake you up somehow. The Princess sent a messenger summoning her new senshi to join her for breakfast. I was already awake so I thought I would help the rest of you get up."

"I can think of more pleasant ways to wake up," Makoto grumbled, slipping out of bed and rummaging through her closet for something formal to wear. She felt the Uranian's eyes on her form, but she had worn a loose shift to bed and he couldn't see anything.

"Mmm, I agree, but unfortunately for me you have already been claimed by the little Mercurian. I would have liked to _dance_ with you, Jupiter Makoto."

Blushing at the man's forwardness, the Jovian grabbed a dress and draped it across the back of a nearby chair, grabbing a brush from her dressing table and running it through her slightly-curled green hair. "Don't you have someone else to annoy this morning? I need to get dressed."

Kazemaru grinned and nodded. "I have to wake everyone else."

Makoto narrowed her eyes and turned the full force of her royal glare on him. She had never been shy to give commands on her world, and it was clear that she understood how to use her noble power even against the confident Uranian. "Don't pull that sword trick on Ami. You'll give the poor thing a heart attack. Go bother the love birds and I'll wake Ami myself."

"Agreed." Kazemaru left the bedroom, closing the door so Makoto could dress in peace, and she found herself wondering why she was so at ease in his presence. Never before in her life had a man entered her quarters uninvited, and no one had ever pointed a sword at her without retribution, but she wasn't in the least bit bothered by Kazemaru's erratic actions. She felt like she had known him her whole life, and she felt closer to him than any of her brothers, despite the fact that she had only met him the night before. Why, when he had done nothing to earn her friendship, did she feel like he was one of them, one of the senshi? She would have to speak with Ami and their new partners about this strange Uranian man who somehow fit into their group without trying.

* * *

Rei felt a disturbance in her room before her eyes even opened. Every sense was on full alert as she jumped out of bed, grabbing the sword that had been leaning against the wall as she spun to face her opponent. She heard Minako stir behind her, the blonde laughing as she identified the threat before Rei's grogginess faded. Growling angrily, the Martian sheathed her sword and crossed her arms over her chest, purple eyes furious. "What are you doing in here?"

Kazemaru grinned unrepentantly, allowing himself a moment to rake his emerald eyes across Rei's naked form as he sheathed his own sword. "I came to wake you for a breakfast with the princess."

"Clearly, I'm awake," Rei growled, not in the least concerned with her lack of attire. Modesty was not a known Martian trait, though they preferred not to let others see their mates in any state of undress. "And it's not generally a good idea to enter a Martian's chambers with a drawn sword, _Uranian_." She freed one hand from her crossed arms to wave at Kazemaru's sword, wondering why that twisted hilt and jeweled scabbard looks so familiar. She had not met many Uranians, so it had to be one of the famous weapons she had learned about from her history tutors.

Kazemaru pointed at Minako, the blonde clutching the sheets to hide her nakedness as she watched the pair of warriors argue. "It's her room, and Venusians never mind when beautiful people enter their chambers."

Minako blushed at the tall man's words, coughing to hide her embarrassment as her lover spun at the sound. "It's mostly true," Minako admitted, "but now that I have you, I don't need any other beautiful people in my room." Rei puffed out her chest proudly, relaxing as Minako leaned up to kiss her on the cheek. "Go ahead and get dressed, Rei."

The Martian nodded, strolling past Kazemaru without worry as she grabbed a dress from the closet and a handful of undergarments from the top drawer of the dresser, turning on the lights as she reached her vanity. "Don't wake me up like that again, Kazemaru."

"I won't," the Uranian promised, running a hand through his short blonde hair. "You noticed me faster than Makoto, in any case. I had my sword at the Jovian's throat before her eyes opened."

"I have something to protect," Rei replied, adjusting her slip as she grabbed the dress. "If you insist on invading our chambers, you might as well help me dress. Tie the laces for me, please. And keep your back to the bed so Minako can dress."

Kazemaru helped Rei slip the dark purple dress over her head, letting her adjust the position of it while he carefully pulled the laces in the back tight. He heard the Venusian getting dressed behind him, but true to his promise to leave Minako alone, he ignored the sounds and the temptation associated with them. As soon as Rei's knee-length dress was properly tied, she handed him a brush and sat on a low stool while he worked the night's knots from her crimson hair. He pulled the top layer of her hair into a loose twist, pinning it in place with two jeweled flowers and leaving the rest of it loose.

"Wow, it's beautiful." Minako, clad in pale pink, nudged Rei off the stool and sat down, smiling up at Kazemaru expectantly. Chuckling, the Uranian grabbed the brush again and ran it through Minako's golden hair. He started a multi-layered braid at each temple, joining them at the back of her head, weaving pink and red ribbons through her hair as he tied the braid off and let the rest of her hair fall loosely down her back. Finding a jeweled red bow among the trinkets on the table, he used it to secure the end of the braid behind her head, letting the princess admire his handiwork in the mirror. "For someone with short hair, you're really quite good at this," Minako remarked, touching the red bow. "I like it."

"I'm glad. Pleasing women is my specialty." Despite the Uranian's intensely flirtatious personality, there was no sexual innuendo in his words.

"Whoever your soul mate is, she will be very lucky when you find her."

Kazemaru smiled at Minako's words, bowing as he left the Venusian's room and returned to the living area to wait for the princesses to emerge. He sank onto one of the plush couches and stared out into the garden as he remembered Princess Serenity's words to him the day before. She had specifically invited him to breakfast by name, clearly grouping him with her other senshi despite the fact that the others did not know his true identity. He wondered how long he could keep it a secret, or if it was even a secret worth keeping. Even worse, how could he tell these young princesses that he had been lying about his identity? It was best that he keep this secret for now.

* * *

"Today we are starting with sword training. After swords we will work on unarmed combat and non-lethal weapons. Tomorrow we will focus on tracking and archery, and the day after that will be diplomacy and tactics. Day four will be elemental training where you will learn to focus your senshi attacks and day five will be full-power combat simulations. Since you are all princesses and senshi, I understand that you have learned the basics in most of these fields, so after day five you will each focus on your own weakest area and improve it as much as possible. You have a meeting on Titan in just over three weeks and you must be a coordinated team by then."

The four women faced Kazemaru, each dressed in armor from their home world and fidgeting uncomfortably. Princess Serenity had asked him to begin training the senshi personally and immediately at the impromptu breakfast meeting, surprising the Uranian himself and all of the senshi. After waking up with a sword at her throat, Makoto agreed with the princess's decision to have the blonde train them, eventually convincing her fellow senshi that it was a good idea.

The blonde pulled out a sword, using one of the practice blades that did not have a sharp edge rather than the slender, slightly curved blade he carried that all of the senshi felt like they recognized but couldn't quite identify. The four women quickly echoed his action, each holding a single-handed sword as he quickly demonstrated a few basic moves. Once they had a grasp of the elementary motions, he showed them a simple series of Uranian Sword Dances, highly complicated attacks that were popular on his world but rarely seen on any of the others. Very few off-worlders had much insight into the Uranian psyche, but the combination of art and war was exemplified in these deadly dances. Training their muscles to be able to handle this difficult art form would help the senshi in their future battles.

Rei and Makoto mastered the most basic Dances quickly, Kazemaru helping them move through the more complicated ones as Ami and Minako struggled with the simple Raven Dance. There was no way for them to know, but Kazemaru did not show them the most intricate Dances, moves that took Uranians years to learn and were generally never seen off of their world. Most of them required multiple participants, and without a partner on the Moon, he would never be able to perform them effectively. The senshi would never be able to learn them before their meeting on Titan, so he would save that demonstration for the future, preferably when he had another three Uranians to participate.

From an open balcony overlooking the training fields, Princess Serenity watched the five young warriors practicing with their swords, smiling at the sense of camaraderie she could see them developing. "I am surprised that you asked him to train your senshi. How could he possibly understand the power they wield?"

The princess shrugged as her mother joined her on the balcony, smiling as Rei moved through the Sunset Sword Dance without a mistake. Kazemaru congratulated the Martian then demanded that she repeat the Dance four more times while Makoto completed the Sunrise Sword Dance and Ami mastered the Double Raven Dance with Minako as her partner. The Moon Princess had learned when she was a young child how to present a united front to their people by agreeing with her mother in public. In private, however, the girl disagreed with the silver-haired queen more often than not. She knew that her small rebellions often worried the queen, but Serenity let her daughter get away with pretty much anything she wanted. The blonde princess knew that part of it was because her father had died when she was just a few days old, and her mother was uncomfortable reprimanding her given that past.

"Mother, you are the one who taught me long ago that Uranians are the most versatile and powerful warriors in our vast kingdom. Kazemaru is the best person on the Moon to teach my senshi about conventional weapons, strategy, tracking, tactics, and diplomacy. They will have time to discover their senshi powers on their own after all of that, but they need that basic knowledge. Everything Kazemaru is teaching right now will help them reach their full potential."

"It is still outside of the realm of normalcy." Serenity's voice was cool and formal, that regal voice she used to impress her people. It never seemed to work on her daughter.

"Who trained your senshi?"

The silver-haired queen looked down at her daughter, lavender eyes full of a pain she could never share with her innocent child. "Sailor Pluto. Usually, one of the Outers is chosen to train the Inner Senshi, but of your Outers only Pluto has come into her power."

The princess smiled, her pale blue eyes secretive, as she turned back to watch the senshi training below. "Then I think my choice is perfect."

"Sometimes I do not understand you, my daughter."

"It is for the best."

* * *

"Martians tend to use two swords in their attacks, and they always carry extra knives for sneak attacks." Kazemaru glanced at Rei, both of them remembering her fight for the Mars henshin stick. "Princess Rei will show you some of the moves that require two swords. The Sword Dances are more for building your strength, but what she will show you are moves that are more useful in actual combat. You should each decide which sword style you like the most and use that one when we get to combat simulations." He stepped to the side and let Rei begin her demonstration, glancing up at the palace while everyone else had their attention on the Martian. He was surprised to see the princess watching their training session from the balcony, and he raised one eyebrow, wondering if she was testing him more than the Inner Senshi.

As soon as the senshi had suffered through enough sword-training, Kazemaru paired them up for unarmed combat. He stood back and watched Makoto face off against Rei, correcting the Martian's stance as the Jovian threw herself into the match where she was clearly the superior. He paired Ami and Minako up together, facing them himself since neither one had a strong background in physical attacks. They sparred for the rest of the afternoon, the partners changing as everyone's skills increased. Kazemaru was surprised that the senshi could learn so quickly, committing moves to muscle-memory in hours that would take a normal person months or years. He let them finish the day battling with quarterstaffs, Makoto's talisman and specialty, as he took a break in the shade of a tree overlooking the training grounds.

"They are learning quickly."

"Senshi always do, Princess."

Serenity, hidden in the shade, reached out and placed a hand on Haruka's shoulder. "They aren't fighting with their full abilities."

"I don't expect them to, yet. The next few days will give them the knowledge and the skills to fight, but they will have to find a reason on their own."

"It's always the same reason."

Haruka nodded reluctantly, knowing that her princess was right. For a few years after Serenity's Presentation, Haruka had known the love of her father and had spent every available moment with the man. Inevitably, she began to mimic the person she idolized, and he frowned upon such behavior. He had little tolerance for the dual nature of the women he ruled, the desire to balance masculine and feminine, but he had easily accepted Kazeko when she had been alive. Since his wife had died, Koshu could not bear the masculine tendency of some of the War Queens and his young daughter. When Haruka started dressing like a man and seducing women to her bed—unmarried minor ladies and servants—he had begun to push her away. Haruka had not been able to understand his change of heart until she began to study the Ancient Laws, but the Uranian princess could not bring herself to forgive him for not loving her despite the parts of her he didn't like. "It's a stupid reason."

"Love is a stupid reason to fight? Why is your heart so hard, Haruka?"

"What have I known of love, Princess? It's all nice for you, living here with billions of people who worship you, cherish you, _love_ you, but on my world . . . it's not something you expect from anyone but family members. And I learned not to expect it from _him_."

Serenity raised her hand to Haruka's cheek, forcing the hardened warrior to look into her watery blue eyes. "I'm sorry that your father can't accept you, but I love you as I love all my senshi. Those who fight for love can overcome more obstacles than they would ever believe possible. My senshi already trust you, though they don't know why, and they will love you as a sister when they know the truth."

Haruka stood, her emerald eyes hard and cold. "It's not something I want or need. The Inner Senshi protect the Princess while the Outer Senshi protect the Solar System. We aren't meant to be friends or to fight together. I will never be a sister with them." She stormed off, the wind in the gardens gusting with her fury and despair as she rejoined the senshi and checked their progress.

Serenity pulled back the hand that had been resting on Haruka's cheek and held it to her chest, tears filling her eyes. "Oh Uranus, your pain is greater than even I can heal. I hope you find someone soon who can soothe your wounds and show you that love isn't a worthless emotion."

* * *

Makoto helped Ami walk into the living room, collapsing on one of the large couches together as Rei and Minako mimicked them. With a relieved groan, Makoto let her head fall against the arm rest, every muscle in her body protesting the punishment she had subjected herself to throughout that long day. Kazemaru followed the four younger women into the suite, his own movements still powerful and graceful where theirs were tired and sloppy. "Maybe I should have started with endurance training," he teased, pouring four cups of restorative tea from the kettle that the servants had delivered just before they arrived, carrying them to the table in the center of the room. "If that is all it took to tire you, perhaps our training schedule will have to be extended." He handed a cup to each senshi, watching as the Mercurian herbs in the liquid gave them a burst of energy and pain relief.

"We'll be fine after some rest," Rei promised, forcing herself into a sitting position. "I haven't trained like that in years."

"I expected you to last longer after seeing your fight with your mother," Kazemaru purred, his eyes sparkling with a challenge.

"I would really like to see that fight," Ami admitted, sipping her tea slowly.

"I'll download a copy from Mars Security," Rei promised, reaching over to run her fingers through Minako's hair, her eyes softening as her lover leaned into the gentle caress. "I think we have about an hour until supper, if everyone would like to take a bath and get changed."

"That's a good idea; I'll summon your servants while you bathe." Kazemaru shooed the four women away, watching as Rei and Minako entered one bedroom while Ami and Makoto hesitated at the door to Makoto's room.

The Jovian reached out and cupped Ami's face with her hand, using her thumb to rub away an errant smudge of training field dust. "You can join me if you want, Ami." Her voice was soft and sensual, perfectly balanced to tempt a woman into her bed, but Kazemaru knew that the shy Mercurian would reject her offer.

Ami blushed and shook her head, kissing Makoto's palm to take the sting out of the refusal. "I'm not sure we'd get much done like that," she managed. "Maybe next time?"

The Jovian nodded, watching Ami enter her chambers before she sighed and turned back to her own, frustration in her voice. "My tone was perfect."

"To tempt someone from Jupiter," Kazemaru replied; "or almost any other planet except Mercury. They are shy and prudish by nature, though you seemed to have picked one of the most open-minded ones. It will take some time, but don't give up. Just keep pouring all of your charm on and she will give in eventually."

Makoto nodded, turning back to smile at the Uranian conspiratorially, having softened her opinion of the blonde after a busy day of training. "If you think Ami is an atypical Mercurian, you should have met her cousin, Lilia. The woman is practically Venusian!" Kazemaru chuckled as the Jovian entered her room, his smile fading as soon as he was alone in the living room.

"At this point I'd like to meet anyone," Haruka whispered, fists clenching at her side. She stood still for a moment until she was in control of her emotions once more, walking to the door to summon the small army of servants the princesses would need to prepare for a formal dinner with the Queen and Princess.

* * *

"Raise your arm Ami. Makoto, focus on your target before you release your arrow. Minako, don't bend your arm like that. Rei, your aim is perfect so start focusing on speed." Kazemaru walked behind the line of senshi, each dressed in much lighter armor than the day before and wearing arm guards and archery gloves while they sent arrow after arrow into the targets across the field. He tapped Ami's shoulder, nodding as she held her arm higher and sent her next arrow into the bull's-eye. Makoto took an extra second to focus on her target, improving her penetration as Minako worked on her stance. The Uranian touched Rei's shoulder blade, tapping it every time he wanted the Martian to release an arrow. He felt the Martian trembling with the effort, but she managed to land each and every one in the center of the target. As soon as the four women emptied their quivers, Kazemaru sent a group of servants to retrieve them so they could begin again.

After spending a couple of hours on close-ranged targeting, Kazemaru moved them to a larger field and taught them how to judge distances for ranged shooting. Surprisingly, Ami had the best accuracy at long range, since she could calculate the angles and wind velocity in her head much more quickly than her counterparts. The Uranian moved back and watched as the shy Mercurian taught her new partners how to quickly determine an enemy's distance and use that information to hit them with an arrow every time. The tall blonde smiled as the small group of green senshi took their first step together in working as a team, relying on Mercury's information to quickly decimate their straw-filled targets. When they finished their ranged lessons ahead of schedule, their teacher let them have fun shooting flaming arrows onto oil-soaked dummies, the huge fireballs when they scored a hit more rewarding than his own praise could ever be.

Serenity surprised the group by joining them for a picnic lunch in the center of the training field. Her servants arranged the blankets and food while the four senshi freshened up in the barracks, leaving Serenity and Haruka alone for a few minutes.

"Mother does not approve of my choice for their teacher."

Haruka shrugged. "If you think it's best to tell her my true identity, the choice is yours, Princess. I am content letting everyone make their own decisions."

The princess nodded. "I know. I told her that she gave this decision to me, and I am happy with what I chose. Mother had her say, but she will let me make the final decisions in regards to my senshi."

The senshi joined Serenity and Haruka a few minutes later, and the group eagerly dug into the baskets of food, famished after a long morning of training. While the others ate voraciously, Serenity took the time to get to know them better.

"I watched your fight with Rikuriko. I'm amazed at how strong you are, Rei! And to watch a senshi summon her transformation for the first time to save someone's life was a powerful moment, Minako."

"Thank you, Princess. The fight for the Mars henshin stick was necessary, but I can't say that I didn't enjoy it."

"You come from a warrior people; it is expected that you take pleasure in a fair fight. Your mother fought you with all of her strength." Serenity paused, knowing that her next question might be a little personal, but she needed to ask. "I find myself wondering why. Why did you fight like that, and why did you Challenge for the henshin stick?"

The four senshi froze at the question, unsure if they should reveal Minako and Rei's relationship to their princess. Haruka sighed and ran a hand through her hair, a touch of amusement in her husky voice. "You might as well answer. She'll find out on her own."

"But the Laws . . ."

"She won't care any more than I do."

Serenity glanced at her Uranian senshi as the Martian fidgeted on the blanket. "Mina and I . . . are soul mates. I fought for her because Mother said we could not be together."

"So your transformation into Sailor Venus came when your soul screamed," the princess murmured, one hand on her chin. "I had read something about that from one of the earliest sagas, but I have never seen it firsthand. Aphrodite must have been impressed with the power of your love."

Minako blushed, scooting closer to Rei in an effort to hide her embarrassment. "She came to us after Rei woke up, and she said she was proud."

Serenity turned to Makoto, reaching out to take the startled Jovian's hands in hers. "And I heard that you fought in the Ganymede Invitational Tournament when you were just barely thirteen! They rarely even allow women in but you managed to fight, somehow, and you beat everyone even though they were older and bigger than you."

Makoto blushed as everyone turned to her, the warriors shocked at the information and the others absorbing their princess's excitement. "My oldest brother was invited to compete, and I was so angry that they didn't invite me that I knocked him out before the start of the tournament and entered in his place. He used to wear his hair much longer and I didn't look much like a girl when I was that young and wearing his clothes, so the judges believed that I was Ken'nin. Imagine their surprise when my brother woke up just in time to interrupt the Awards Ceremony. There was a huge inquiry, but, in the end, my mother told them that I had won, fair and square, and they had to crown me champion."

"The Ganymede Invitational is the largest and most prestigious martial arts tournament in the Silver Millennium," Haruka supplied, knowing that the Venusian and Mercurian would have little knowledge of the fighting events hosted by the three warrior planets. "I wasn't invited until I was seventeen, after Makoto's win forced them to change the rules to allow any participant regardless of gender, and my final opponent was the High Duchess of Callisto. It was an interesting fight, since I had never battled a woman before, but I won. I doubt I could have taken the crown as young as Makoto did."

"And you won when you were only thirteen?" Ami's wide sapphire eyes stared up at Makoto in shock and something approaching awe, embarrassing the Jovian even more.

"I'm sure you have accomplishments you haven't mentioned to Makoto yet," the princess offered, glad that the research she had done on her new senshi was helping her make friends with them. "You were the youngest Mercurian ever to be declared a Scholar in seven different fields, when you were twelve."

Ami nodded hesitantly, modestly admitting to her achievement. Her earlier shyness was gone, replaced by the eagerness of an introverted woman who had never sought friends but was glad they had been forced upon her. "In order to be Sailor Mercury or receive any Title on my planet, you have to study to be a Scholar in five fields. I chose to go for seven, and I demanded to be Tested when I was twelve. My mother was shocked when I passed all of them, even more so when I decided to receive Scholarship in the other six fields the Academy qualifies. As a consequence, I currently hold the only Scholarship on Mercury in Ancient Texts, since the subject is less than popular on my world."

"I didn't realize I had fallen for such a genius," Makoto purred, her emerald eyes full of wonder. "I'm not sure I'm good enough for you."

"Mako! Don't think like that!" Neither one of them realized that the Jovian had revealed their relationship to the princess as Ami pulled the taller woman closer and rested her head on Makoto's bosom. "I don't want you to ever think you aren't good enough, Jupiter Makoto. I love you just the way you are."

For the thunder and water senshi, the rest of the group might as well have not existed. Makoto leaned down and kissed the top of Ami's head, both of them realizing at the same time that Ami had used the L-word first, far sooner than Makoto had expected it. "I love you, too, Ami, just the way you are," she whispered.

Haruka glanced over at Rei and Minako, one eyebrow raised as the thunder and water senshi kissed. The Martian raised her hands in defeat, seeing that it would not take Makoto four more days to entice the blue-haired woman to her bed, but Minako raised her hands and made a heart symbol, indicating that she still believed she would win. Shrugging, Haruka turned back to the pair and cleared her throat. "I like you both just fine, too, but it's about time we wrapped up lunch and headed back to training."

Serenity stood from the blanket, her senshi quickly following suit, the princess embracing each of them in turn. "I'm so glad that you are my senshi. You're all so wonderful and powerful and loving and I can't wait to have you as members of my court. I'm so happy right now, everyone." She glanced at Haruka over Rei's shoulder, letting the Uranian know that she was included. "Go back to your training and become as strong as you can. We won't have a formal dinner tonight, but I will join you tomorrow for lunch again."

They group bid their princess farewell, following Haruka back into the castle as a small flock of servants cleaned their meal. The tall blonde led silently, planning out the next lesson as she struggled to reassert her Kazemaru personality. She had let her identity slip when she mentioned her win at the Ganymede Invitational, and she worried that one of the princesses might have been listening and would be able to figure it out. Sure, none of them knew her age well enough to calculate the year she had won, but Haruka had still been sloppy and she could not allow it again.

* * *

The final training session of the day was tracking, and Kazemaru hid Makoto and Rei in the capital city, ordering Ami to track the Martian and Minako to track the Jovian. He sent one servant with each senshi, letting them communicate the women's progress to him while he spent the time training with the guard captain. Since the pairs he had chosen had no bonds to each other and were only barely friends, the session took over five hours, but eventually all four senshi and the servants shadowing them returned to the palace. Kazemaru, happily exhausted from fighting against the guard captain and his best lieutenants all afternoon, congratulated the princesses on locating each other without their senshi powers, dismissing everyone for an early night.

Makoto and Ami walked back to their rooms slowly, both thinking about the day and what they had reveled in the presence of their princess. "Hey, Ami."

"Yes?"

"Since there isn't a formal dinner tonight, would you like to go into the city and eat? I saw this nice restaurant on the roof of the building where Kazemaru made me hide."

Ami nodded, smiling up at her Jovian. "I would like that."

The princesses spent an hour preparing for their impromptu date, a flock of servants filling their two bedrooms as the other three residents of the suite relaxed in the living room and enjoyed the flurry of activity. Makoto and Ami dismissed all of the servants when they were finished getting ready, Kazemaru closing the door behind them before calling for the princesses of Jupiter and Mercury.

Makoto emerged from her room first, smoothing her hands over her dark green satin dress before spinning in a circle so the others could see her attire. Small pink roses ran along the top edge of the bodice and the bottom of the long dress, pale green embroidered leaves covering her loose skirt. She had chosen to wear her hair down, green locks curling over her shoulders and down her back, a pair of rose hair pins holding her hair back from her face. "What do you think?"

"You look beautiful," Ami replied as she emerged from her own room, sapphire eyes taking in her Jovian girlfriend. The Mercurian had chosen a light blue dress with a low neckline and loose sleeves, the lace-edged hem sitting just below her knees.

"Same to you," Makoto purred, stepping forward and running her fingers through Ami's loose blue hair. "You should wear dresses more often."

Makoto offered her arm to the smaller woman, bidding the other three warriors good night as she escorted her girlfriend out into the city. Kazemaru waited for them to leave before turning to Rei and Minako, arms crossed over his chest. "It won't be tonight."

"It will," Minako replied confidently. "They looked lovely; after a romantic dinner, there's no way that Ami will resist her!"

"Believe what you will, but it will be tomorrow after training. Ami isn't ready and Makoto won't push her." He glanced out at the garden, emerald eyes unfocused as something called for his attention. "I'm going to meditate for a while. You two enjoy your night." He walked outside, his pace measured and steady, despite the turmoil he sensed from his element.

Outside, the wind was gusting fiercely. Since all of the weather on the Moon was controlled by computer, there should not have been any unexpected wind, but the Uranian knew that she had caused it. Taking a seat at the bench where she and Serenity had talked two days earlier, Haruka closed her eyes and focused on calming her powers.

"What's wrong?"

"How do you always know to show up when my thoughts are in turmoil?"

Serenity shrugged as she joined her senshi on the bench. "Freak wind is kind of a dead giveaway. What's bothering you, Haruka?"

"I'm not sure. I keep getting this sense of impending doom, but when I try to focus on the feeling I just see a turbulent ocean spurred on by a furious wind slamming wave after wave against a cliff. I've read the accounts of my predecessors, and I know that this kind of feeling is often a premonition. Usually, in this situation, I would travel to Neptune and ask the current senshi what she sees in her mirror."

"And why don't you?"

Haruka snorted, running her fingers through her hair. "The current senshi is the one who prevented me from making friends with the other princesses on the Moon the day you were born. She hates me, but I've never been sure why."

Serenity stood from the bench, taking Haruka's hand and tugging insistently. "Let me show you something."

Confused, the senshi of Uranus followed her princess back into the palace and through a veritable maze of corridors until they reached the Main Communications Room for the Lunar Palace. The place was pretty empty, since most official communications happened during the day, but two techs sat at stations across the room from the door in case any messages came at night. The two junior communications officers ignored the princess, either knowing better than to question a Moon Royal or so used to her presence that they dismissed her out of hand. Serenity slipped into a private room attached to the main chamber, using her personal security codes to activate a console. "Why are we here?"

"Every communication that passes between planets is recorded here, no matter how minor. No one can view these files except for the queens, but some files are locked even from them. These are the logs from the day you were born."

"What?" Haruka sat down at the console, emerald eyes wide as she began to read the screen, reaching up to touch the first file on the list.

" _Queen Uranus is in labor,"_ a nondescript Uranian soldier announced in his native language. _"She requests the presence of Queen Serenity and the Senshi."_

The next file originated from Mars. "King Koshu is in a conference with King Akaneiro and King Shinrai. Should I activate an emergency teleport?"

The Mercurian on the other side of the communication shook her head, ice blue eyes betraying a worry that her careful tone did not. "That will not be necessary. Kazeko is fine, but I thought he should know that her labor is taking longer than expected."

The Martian soldier nodded. "Very good, Your Majesty. I will inform the King." If Queen Amami had been that worried about Kazeko, why hadn't she summoned the Uranian's husband back? Curious, she clicked on the next message.

Queen Serenity appeared on one side of the screen, the symbol of the Moon on the other. " _Se, please answer me_ ," she whispered in Plutonian. She could not keep the desperation from her voice as she clutched one hand over her heart. _"I don't think she is going to make it, Setsuna. What should I do? I think I can save her with the ginzuishou . . ."_

"Don't." Setsuna's face appeared on the screen, her garnet eyes mirroring the pain in Serenity's soft lavender orbs. "Don't use the ginzuishou."

"She might die."

"If you use it, you will." Setsuna glanced over her shoulder at a sound too faint to be picked up by the transmission, turning back from the distraction a moment later. "I'm coming to Uranus."

Shousha appeared on the screen next, her aqua and blue hair tied back from her face haphazardly, her teal eyes wild with worry. Her message was in Neptunian and addressed to her sister, and Haruka struggled to translate it. _"Raya, are you there? I need to talk to you. Kazeko is dying, Raya! What am I supposed to do? She's been in labor for so long and she was always fragile . . . this stubborn child is going to kill her!"_ She paused a moment, reaching down to touch her swollen belly, thinking about her own impending child birth. Haruka realized that the unborn child was Michiru, that girl she had spoken to for only a moment on the Moon. _"I can't lose her, Raya. After I miscarried my son she was there for me. She kept me going. Then Tsuyu died in that accident not long after I became pregnant again and Kazeko supported me even with her own pregnancy so advanced. She's my everything, Raya. I can't lose her."_

Haruka turned to Serenity in shock, finger hovering over the next message. "Shousha and my mother . . . were lovers?"

The princess nodded slowly, tears in her eyes in response to Haruka's pain. "My mother locked these files to keep anyone from learning how common a practice it is for the senshi to be lovers despite their marriages and families. Kazeko was Shousha's soul mate, but she was always described as fragile for a Uranian. They say that you got all of the strength and power that your mother never wanted. Watch the last one."

The final communication was to Mars again, King Koshu moving into focus on one side while Queen Serenity and Queen Amami stood silent on the other. The tears in the Queen's lavender eyes confirmed the worst, and the king clenched his fists at his sides. He was from Pluto, a people not often given to strong emotions, but tears glinted in his hazel eyes. _"Koshu, I'm sorry,"_ Serenity whispered in Plutonian.

" _We did everything we could,"_ Amami continued in the same language, _"but she was too weak and the labor lasted too long. For all of our medical advances, sometimes it's just not possible to save everyone."_

" _And the child?"_

Serenity gestured off-screen, and Setsuna entered the field of vision, a newborn blonde baby in her arms. The Queen of Pluto looked as tired as her companions, but the pain in her eyes stemmed from _knowing_ that Kazeko was going to die and not being allowed to do anything about it. Haruka remembered Setsuna telling her that Kazeko had been one of her closest friends. _"You have a daughter. She will one day carry her mother's henshin stick in service to the Throne."_

"As if I care about that!"

" _Koshu, think clearly! This child is Kazeko's heir. What will you name her?"_ Setsuna kept her tone neutral and her words Plutonian, clearly believing that Koshu's native tongue would help calm him.

" _I don't care. Kazeko never told me what she wanted to name our child, and now I can never ask her, can I?"_

" _Koshu."_

" _Fine. Call her Haruka."_ He reached up to end the transmission, pausing when Shousha entered the transmission. Her eyes were red from crying, and the Senshi of Neptune looked more disheveled than any of her fellow monarchs had ever seen. "Shousha."

" _She's dead now; are you happy? You spent years trying to keep her from seeing me, but now you have what you want. I'm alone, without even my closest friend and it's all thanks to you and your brat!"_ She was no longer speaking Neptunian; she had changed to Uranian and every furious word cut into the King.

"Shousha!"

The queen spun to face Amami at the reprimand, eyes full of fury. "I never want to see any of you again! And especially not that damned child of hers!" Reaching out with one hand, she summoned her henshin stick and vanished in a flash of teal, leaving three women staring at the baby in Setsuna's arms.

"She will always blame poor Haruka for this." Serenity turned to face Koshu, her stance regal and commanding. "Don't blame her, Koshu, for the loss of your wife. There was nothing anyone could do, and she will suffer the loss of her mother for the rest of her life." Koshu nodded stiffly before ending the communication.

Haruka pushed herself away from the console as Serenity locked it back down, her face dark and her emerald eyes dull. It took her a long time to gather herself enough to speak, one hand resting on the Space Sword and the other clenched into a fist on her lap. "She hates me . . . because my mother died?"

"She loved your mother," Serenity whispered, her senshi's pain beating against her.

"And I must suffer because of it?!" The pain changed to fury in an instant, Haruka's eyes burning in the dim light. "Something is coming, something that the Outer Senshi might be able to prevent, but I can't go talk with Michiru about it because her mother has a grudge against me for something I didn't do! Doesn't she understand that I would give anything to have my mother back?"

The Space Sword on Haruka's hip glowed with a golden light at the question, and a tall, transparent figure appeared before the two shocked princesses. The figure smiled kindly at the Uranian, emerald eyes locking with emerald as Serenity watched, amazed at the similarity between the two women. They could have been twins, except that Kazeko had always worn her golden hair long while Haruka kept it short, and she was somewhat shorter than her daughter.

"M-mother?"

The figure—ghost?—smiled kindly, nodding at the question. "Hello, Haruka."


	9. Winds of Uranus

**Chapter 9: Winds of Uranus**

* * *

_January 24, 8983 – January 26, 8983_

* * *

"Mother . . . you're dead."

The former queen smirked at the comment, shrugging slightly. "Clearly. When I died, I used the last of my power to bind myself to my talisman so that I could be here for you now. You're beautiful, my daughter."

Haruka, having spent most of her life acting like a man, struggled to hold back her tears as she rose to her feet. "I don't know what to say."

"I don't have much time, in any case. The power of a slumbering planet cannot give me form for long. Haruka, you have to go to Neptune. There is a threat to our kingdom, a threat that I sensed as I was in labor with you, and you have to find out what it is."

"A threat? My premonition?"

Kazeko nodded, emerald eyes intense even as a ghost. "A great darkness is coming, a darkness so vast that it can destroy everything you love, everything you protect. If you and Sailor Neptune do not stand fast against the darkness, the Silver Millennium will be destroyed. Only you and Shousha's daughter can save it."

Haruka reached out with one hand, desperate to touch her mother but knowing that it could never happen. Smiling sympathetically, Kazeko touched Haruka's cheek, a faint chill lingering at the point of contact. "Promise me you will go to Neptune."

"I promise," Haruka whispered, unable to deny her mother even as she had been unable to deny Serenity two nights earlier. "I don't understand what you expect me to do once I get there, but I will go."

"Just be yourself," Kazeko replied ruefully, the Space Sword pulsing as she faded. "I can't stay any longer, Haruka, but know that I love you. Please don't be angry at Koshu or Shousha; they both love me and don't understand that they are hurting you because of it. I will see you again when the planets awake."

"Mother!" Kazeko's ghost faded, returning to the Space Sword, as Haruka stared at the space she had occupied. The wind senshi stood silently for a handful of minutes as she considered her mother's words and her own premonition of destruction. Serenity watched her protector patiently, knowing that Haruka would speak when she was ready. "Shousha is still Sailor Neptune?"

"Technically, yes," Serenity replied, knowing why her senshi was asking. "Her daughter is old enough to receive the henshin stick, but Shousha has not passed it on. There is a rumor among the queens that Shousha has not transformed in over twenty years, and she may have lost her link to the Neptune powers and talisman."

"Is that possible?"

"It's not unheard-of for a senshi to lose her powers when one of her teammates dies. I'm sure you understand that it is the loss of a soul mate that causes the loss of power, not just any teammate. In Shousha's case, I believe that it is possible she has not been able to transform since Kazeko died. If she still had a connection to the Aqua Mirror, she would have seen this darkness coming before you began to have dreams."

"Then the Sailor Neptune who can help me with my premonition is Michiru."

"Most certainly."

Haruka growled and waved a hand at the communications console, forcing herself to control her raging emotions. "Shousha will never allow me on her planet, Sailor Uranus or not! The kingdom will fall because she hates me so."

"Perhaps not. Haruka, your birthday is in only three days."

The blonde's head shot up, shock from the revelation warring with curiosity as she tried to determine why her princess cared about her birthday. "And?"

"Every year, on the anniversary of Kazeko's death, Shousha travels to Oberon and visits her grave, arriving a few days early so she has time alone before anyone else comes to visit the site. She is there now, and she will be there through the end of the two-week Mourning. If you were ever going to go to Neptune, you must go while the queen is on Uranus. She will never know."

"After your mysterious trip, when you no longer require my protection, I will go to Neptune," Haruka decided, one hand on the hilt of her sword. "Thank you for what you showed me, Princess. I've always wanted to know."

Serenity slipped her arm through Haruka's as she guided the blonde senshi back to the gardens. "You deserved to know. Now that you have your answer and your plan, you should be able to meditate like you intended."

"Yes, I should. Thank you."

* * *

Haruka returned to the apartment long after the artificial night began, surprised to see Rei and Minako awake on the couch so late. "You two know that we have training in the morning, do you not?"

The Martian looked up at her warrior friend, nodding at Makoto's closed door. "It looks like you're going to win, after all. Minako is so upset about it."

Haruka grinned and sat down across from the pair of senshi, amused that the princess of Venus would stay awake to admit her mistake. "Let me guess. The date went well, they came back here and watched some sappy movie, and Ami fell asleep from the stress of physical training all day."

"Yes," Minako pouted, arms crossed in front of her chest. "It was a good movie, too! I thought for sure it would get them in the mood."

"Oh? What movie did you pick for them?"

" _Winds of Uranus_. Have you heard of it?" Even as she asked the question, Minako realized that it was silly. It was one of the most popular movies ever created on Uranus, so of course a Uranian noble would have seen it.

The Uranian nodded, mildly impressed at the choice. "Yes, I have. I was invited to the first screening on Oberon, actually. It's quite an epic love story, a famous legend on my planet, and this recent version, some say best version, stars Taichen Laira of Titania. She is one of the most accomplished actresses in the Silver Millennium, and possibly the best Uranus has ever produced."

"Have you ever met her?" Minako leaned forward in her seat, eyes glued on Haruka with something akin to idol worship. The taller blonde cursed silently as she felt herself blush, unable to prevent it as she remembered her meeting with Laira. Rei snorted at the look on Haruka's face, pulling her girlfriend back into her arms.

"I think that means they've met. Intimately, from the look on Kazemaru's face."

Haruka felt herself wince at the name, suddenly eager to assert her own identity in front of her friends. Something about meeting her mother had driven away her need to hide from her father and her birthright. "We met when she visited Oberon after her Knighting Ceremony on Triton. She is now a Lesser War Queen on Uranus and a Lady of the Neptunian Court. I helped her . . . celebrate."

"She was knighted on Triton? What did she do to earn that honor?"

"On Neptune, the arts are prized above all else," Minako explained, somewhat more familiar with the ceremony than her warrior counterparts. "The story is that Princess Michiru was so impressed with Laira's acting when she watched _Winds of Uranus_ that she demanded her mother knight the lead actress. It was a huge news event for a princess who never leaves her planet to insist on knighting a member of another kingdom. On Neptune, all of the royals have to be accomplished in multiple forms of art, and I hear that the princess excels in painting, singing, dancing, and musical instruments."

"What instrument does she play?" Now that the topic of conversation had turned to one of the mysterious Outer Princesses, Rei was eager to learn more. Michiru had not been seen away from the moons of Neptune since she was a child at Serenity's Presentation. Kazan had shown her a few holos of the princess as he submitted suit after suit for her hand, but nothing had come of his marriage offers. What she had seen, however, pointed to a woman far more beautiful than her mother.

"She never said, but she seemed to have a soft spot for stringed instruments," Haruka answered without thinking, remembering the beautiful aqua-haired girl she had met briefly on the moon fourteen years earlier. She had not known that Michiru was the one who insisted on knighting Laira, but she was an impressive actress and a beautiful person, so it was fitting.

Rei spun in her seat, shock in her amethyst eyes, and Haruka knew that she had finally said too much. "How do you know? How could you possibly know? The Princess of Neptune lives secluded in her castle, and she has only ever left her planet once, on the day of Serenity's birth. Even I have barely seen holos of her, and only then because my brother was vying for her hand. Even he never got a chance to speak with her. No one knows anything about her, not even we princesses who are supposed to be her partner senshi, and there is no way that you have ever met her as the son of a duke! Queen Shousha has not yet allowed any off-world suitors to court her in person . . ." Her voice trailed off, Minako's hand on her arm tightening as the Venusian reached the only possible conclusion first.

"You play the piano," Minako whispered, a smile slowly spreading across her face. "I was so young that day that I had forgotten, but of course Michiru was at the Presentation of Serenity. I remember now that Michiru told Ami that she approved of her choice of the harp and she told Haruka that even a planet of war has time for art . . . you're _her_ aren't you? You're Princess Haruka." Haruka looked away from the two women, both relieved that her secret was out in the open and worried that the senshi would not accept her after her deception. She looked up as Minako reached out and placed a hand on her arm, the Venusian smiling. "I'm so glad that you are one of us. I was worried that you would not be able to stay with us when our training is complete, but as Sailor Uranus you belong here."

Rei nodded in agreement with Minako, pointing at the sword on Haruka's hip. "Is that the Space Sword, then? It has seemed oddly familiar since we first met."

"It is. I was worried that it would give me away, but none of you seemed to recognize it and only Princess Serenity has seen through my deception thus far."

Rei shrugged and leaned back against the couch. "Uranians tend toward extravagance. Having a sword with a beautiful sheath means nothing to those of us who know of your people. At least I finally understand why I am so comfortable around you. Why did you come to Mars the day I challenged my mother?"

Haruka pulled the Space Sword from its sheath, the weapon glowing with a brilliant golden light as she probed it with her powers. "This took me there. I wasn't sure at the time, since every sensation was new after my first transformation into Sailor Uranus, but I found out tonight that my mother bound her soul to this talisman so she could be here for me now. She took me to Mars so that I could help you in your fight."

"Your mother?"

"Princess Serenity showed me some communications logs from the day I was born, and my mother appeared to me after that. She said that a great threat to the Silver Millennium is coming and that I must find a way to stop it. As the Senshi of Uranus, leader of the Outer Senshi, it is my duty."

"A threat?" Minako stood from the couch, pacing across the room as she tried to decide what to do. As the leader of a group of very untrained Inner Senshi, her desire to fight had to be tempered by her lack of warriors. "We'll need the other senshi, you know."

Haruka nodded. "Sailor Pluto has called a meeting on Titan in a couple of weeks to discuss this threat. She told me that I had to go. It seems that all reigning queens and active senshi will be required to attend."

"What is the threat?" Rei had not really thought much about the upcoming meeting on Titan, but Haruka's unease had her worried.

"Rei, she's called the meeting on _Titan_. The threat must be so great that she fears Sailor Saturn will wake."

Rei stared at Haruka for a moment, letting the dread of her statement sink in. Her words were barely a whisper when she finally spoke. "What can we do?"

"Finish your training over the next three days and practice fighting as a team after that," Haruka replied. "If there is a threat, we must all be ready to fight."

* * *

"As you can see from the accounts of the War of Unification, standard battlefield tactics were disrupted by the presence of not only Sailor Uranus, but Sailor Neptune as well. With careful use of their powers and a calculated show of force, they were able to subdue the Moons of Jupiter under the command of Princess Chijira. Five days after the end of the War, the Queen died of her wounds and Chijira took command of the Jupiter henshin stick." Haruka watched her students absorb the military tactics eagerly, glad that they enjoyed the major battles she had chosen to teach. With the exception of Makoto, none of the other senshi had ever learned about the Jupiter War of Unification, one of the bloodiest and most violent civil wars the Silver Millennium had ever seen. At first, the reigning Queen Serenity had refused to allow the use of senshi powers against mortals, but after the Black Thorns of Ganymede mortally wounded the Queen of Jupiter, Serenity had relented.

"Why were Uranus and Neptune chosen?"

Haruka waved a hand at Rei and Minako, calling attention to the pair cuddled on one couch as everyone looked up at Ami's question. "Look at them. They know each other far more intimately than you will ever know either one of them. In a battle, they will be able to sense each other's moves and predict each other's attacks. If I commanded the senshi and I needed to quell an uprising, I would choose a _pair_ for the job. Sailor Jupiter was dying and her soul mate—judging from transit records of the period—was Sailor Mars. Without those two warriors, the Queen turned to the Senshi of Battle, Sailor Uranus, and her soul mate. As a team, they were unstoppable. This battle shows how knowing your allies is just as important as knowing your enemies."

Ami nodded and stared at the statistics on her data reader, committing Haruka's words to memory. Makoto watched her out of the corner of her eye, enjoying Ami's presence as she struggled to contain her turbulent emotions. She was perfectly willing to move their relationship along at Ami's pace, but it was getting harder and harder to sit next to the Mercurian without doing something that would embarrass both of them later. Cooling her desire with a supreme force of will, Makoto returned her attention to her lessons.

"Now we will move on to the Antares Uprising. As you can see, the Queen of Antares called for help from across the cosmos when a rogue group of senshi tried to take her throne. The senshi in question were easily more powerful than most of our senshi, but a clever use of tactics initiated by Sailor Pluto managed to capture the aggressors and remove their Star Crystals, passing them on to less rebellious successors."

"Star Crystals?"

Haruka scratched her head as she tried to decide how to answer Minako. "Most of the information I have was painstakingly translated from the Saga of the last Sailor War and I cannot verify any of the information I obtained. It seems that every planet or star capable of empowering a senshi has a crystal imbued with its life-force that the senshi uses to both transform and channel the planet's powers."

"We don't have crystals."

"I know. Shortly after the Antares Uprising, Sailor Pluto saw a future of darkness and ordered all of the senshi to remove the Keystones from their Planet Crystals. After that, Pluto helped them create henshin sticks they could use to access the powers of their planets while they slept, allowing them to still be Sailor Senshi but with a significant reduction in power. This was also the same time period that gave rise to the Ancient Law preventing you from being with your soul mate. It seems that Sailor Saturn, who did rise to fight in the Antares Uprising and eventually had to use her ultimate power, was not required to remove her Keystone, since a slumbering planet could never power the senshi of Rebirth. Pluto also did not remove her Keystone since she needed the full power of her planet to be able to guard the Time Gate."

Ami's sapphire eyes lost focus for a moment as she scanned through her memories with her enhanced Sailor Mercury powers, focusing on a specific image of her mother. In that memory, Queen Amami had been dressed only in a loose blue robe, emerging from her chambers as a sleepy female voice called her back. As a child, Ami could not determine the owner of the voice, but now she was certain it was Meika visiting Mercury while her father was away on a diplomatic trip to Pluto. Sitting just above her mother's breasts, hanging from an intricate and ancient golden chain, Ami had spotted a perfectly round and flawless sapphire. "I think my mother wears the Keystone on a golden chain around her neck," the genius whispered. "It was a small, round flat stone the color of a sapphire with the symbol of Mercury carved into the surface. I only ever saw it once."

"My mother wears a lot of jewelry, but there is always this one golden chain that she never takes off," Minako murmured, Ami's description helping her identify the mystery necklace her mother had always worn. "I can't ever see what's on it because it always falls under her dress, but I think that it might be the Keystone, too."

Rei pushed herself to her feet, trying to remember if her mother wore a similar necklace. "If the Keystones could be removed, doesn't that mean we can put them back and reform our Planet Crystals? We can never access our full power otherwise."

" _The galaxy will be consumed by Time and the Moon will fall to the Earth in a harvest of ruin when two planets combine,"_ Haruka whispered in Plutonian, realizing for the first time the danger of knowing the true meaning of the Ancient Law. The four senshi turned back to their teacher, understanding her words and wondering at the strange translation of the Ancient Law. They had all known only the Mercurian Translation since they were children. "That's what it means when it references the full power of the planets. If two senshi combine their powers after taking their Keystones and reforming their Planet Crystals, the Silver Millennium will fall."

Rei narrowed her amethyst eyes, remembering Kazemaru arguing with Asakaze about the proper translation of the Law in the throne room of Venus only days earlier. "If we can recreate the crystals and gain the full power of our planets, we can stop the coming threat. If we can't surpass our mothers' powers, Saturn will rise and destroy everything."

"Is something coming? Is there a threat?"

Rei turned to Makoto and nodded, the senshi known for her premonitions informing her teammates that there was danger in their future. She and Minako had not found time to tell their partners about Haruka's true identity or her premonition, so it would have to be enough to hear it from Sailor Mars. "We must continue to train so that we are strong enough to face this threat. We have to protect the Silver Millennium as a team and prevent this darkness that might call Sailor Saturn."

Makoto reached out and took Rei's hand, Ami placing her hand on top of their linked fingers and Minako copying her actions. "We will be the greatest team of senshi the Silver Millennium has ever known," Makoto announced, smiling at her friends and partners. "We will defeat this evil you have seen."

* * *

"What are you thinking about?"

Makoto stared up at the Earth floating serenely overhead, sensing her girlfriend join her on the small porch to their empty suite, Serenity's private gardens stretching before her. Silently shaking her head, the green-haired woman just continued to stare at the planet overhead, desperate to ignore the fear filling her heart, fingers wrapped tightly around the smooth white wood of the railing in front of her. Ami stood behind Makoto and wrapped her arms around the Jovian's waist, offering her strength to the warrior.

"If we do what Rei wants . . . I'll lose you." Makoto's words, when they came, were almost a whisper, but the desperation in her voice was clear.

"I don't understand."

"The only reason the Queen turns a blind eye to our mothers being lovers is the fact that our planets are slumbering, as Kazemaru pointed out. If they wake, Sailor Pluto will force the queen to separate us."

"And if it's the only way to save the Silver Millennium?"

Makoto let her head fall, fists clenched tightly on the railing. Ami could feel the Jovian in her arms tremble with the force of the emotions she was trying to suppress. "I'm not logical, like you. I can't weigh our love against the lives of the people of this kingdom and just say 'I can give you up to save the Silver Millennium'. I'm a warrior, and I live by my instincts. I want to be with you forever. Even if it's the only way to save the Silver Millennium, I would suffer a pain worse than death every day without you, my love. We may have just met, but I need you."

Ami slipped around Makoto, squeezing in between the Jovian and the railing. Her sapphire eyes were filled with a passion that surprised her partner. Something passed between them, something that neither woman would ever be able to put into words, but they suddenly understood each other. "I need you, too," Ami whispered, pulling Makoto down into a bruising kiss, all of her shyness burned away by the power of Makoto's love. The princess of Jupiter wrapped her strong arms around the smaller woman, slowly backing away from the railing and toward the door leading into the palace.

Watching them from across the silent gardens, Minako and Rei sighed and hung their heads, handing their henshin sticks to a grinning Haruka. "You win," Mars grumbled. "I still don't know how you guessed it perfectly."

Haruka summoned her own henshin stick and began to juggle all three of them, devoting only a small portion of her attention to the act. "I told you that I have had lovers from almost every world and moon in this solar system. That part was never a lie."

"What planet is your favorite?"

Haruka tossed Minako's henshin stick at her, raising one eyebrow at the question. "As lovers, Venusians have a serious advantage. You're trained from childhood in the art of pleasure, so of course Venusians are the most experienced lovers. Martians have them beat in pure passion, but only a Jovian has ever had the stamina to be able to keep up with me. However, Mercurians' initially shy natures make them fun and I get hours of amusement out of how easily they blush."

"Yes, but which planet is your favorite?"

"Neptune," Haruka whispered contemplatively, tossing the Mars henshin stick back to its owner. "They're elegant and mature but they can be just as insatiably flirtatious and sexy as a Venusian." Minako smiled at that, raising one eyebrow as if to ask why Haruka would choose a Neptunian over all of the others. "Do you remember Princess Michiru from Serenity's Presentation? Something about her that day called to me, but I was too young to understand then. Now that I'm free of my father's court and his disapproval, all I want to do is travel to Neptune and meet her again."

Minako, seated beside Rei on the bench Haruka had become fond of, leaned into her girlfriend and nudged her conspiratorially. _"Rei, could it be . . . love at first sight?"_ She spoke in Venusian, pretending that Haruka couldn't understand.

" _She is certainly showing all of the classic signs,"_ Rei mused, grinning at the outraged look on the Uranian's face.

"That's a Venusian fantasy," Haruka growled, narrowing her eyes at the pair of women seated across from her. "Love at first sight and soul mates are myths that belong on your planet, not mine. We just have desire and need."

"You have love, too," Minako whispered. "Just because you were born on Uranus doesn't mean you will be denied a soul mate and true love. Didn't you say in the narration of the Jupiter War of Unification that Uranus and Neptune were sent to quell the uprising because they were soul mates? Maybe Michiru is yours."

Haruka touched the Space Sword on her belt, considering the Venusian's words. "My mother said that I had to fight side-by-side with Sailor Neptune and that only Michiru and I can stop the coming darkness. If we are destined to fight something so terrible that it is calling Sailor Saturn, I would prefer not to fall in love with her just to lose her in this war. We soldiers of the outer planets don't have time for love when there is this kind of threat to the Silver Millennium."

"Don't you wish you did have time? Don't you want to be loved?" Haruka nodded, the turmoil in her mind clouding her emerald eyes until Minako reached out and took her hand. "Haruka, no matter what happens, we will always be your friends. Even if Saturn rises or everything is destroyed, you are our sister." When Serenity had told her two days earlier that the senshi would love her as a sister, Haruka had not wanted such a sentiment. Now, hearing it from Minako after seeing her mother and learning her destiny, the Uranian smiled and bowed her head.

"Thank you," she whispered.

* * *

Makoto woke with a start, struggling to hold onto the dream that had worried her, but it faded as her eyes opened. She groaned and rolled over, realizing that she was naked and there was another person in her bed. A pair of startled sapphire eyes stared back at the Jovian, a blush slowly spreading across Ami's cheeks. "Hi," she whispered as the Jovian smiled and ran her fingers through the smaller woman's dark blue hair.

"Hi yourself," Makoto replied, her memories from the night threatening to make her blush, as well. "Did you sleep well, Ami?"

The Mercurian giggled as she cuddled deeper into Makoto's arms. "You can ask that, after last night? Makoto, I don't think I've ever been happier in my life than I am right now." They looked up as someone knocked on the door to Makoto's room, reminding the pair that they were still at the palace with a training schedule and team mates that might walk in on them. Ami grinned as she sat up. "Maybe I will revise that last statement. I'd be happier without interruptions."

"We let you _sleep_ as long as we could," an overly familiar husky voice replied from the other side of the door. "You'll miss breakfast if you don't hurry, and you'll need all of your strength for training today."

"We'll be out in a minute," Makoto replied, slipping out of the bed and gathering the clothes she had thrown on the floor the night before. She sensed Ami watching her as she walked across the room to her closet so she turned back to the bed, surprised to see that the Mercurian's eyes were full of lust. "Ami, we don't have time for that right now."

"Too bad," Ami purred, slipping from the bed and gathering her own clothes. She slipped her dress on, her eyes never leaving the frozen Jovian. "Do I at least get a good morning kiss?"

Her words broke Makoto free of her trance, the Jovian crossing the room in two strides and wrapping one strong arm around Ami's waist. "Good morning," she whispered, threading the fingers of her free hand through her lover's dark blue hair as their lips met.

"Hey! Will you two stop kissing and get dressed already? Rei and Minako have the good sense to come out of their room in the morning!"

Makoto growled and pulled away from her girlfriend, walking back over to her closet and choosing a dress. "How does he know?"

Ami shrugged as she sat down at Makoto's dressing table and ran a brush through her hair. "Kazemaru seems to know things he shouldn't. There is something odd about him, about the way I am so comfortable around him. Despite the fact that his flirting made me a little uncomfortable the first day we were here, I trust him. I wish I knew why."

Kazemaru, Rei, and Minako were sitting on the largest couch when Ami and Makoto emerged from their room. The Martian, sandwiched between the Uranian and Venusian, crossed her arms and narrowed her amethyst eyes. "Took you long enough. Minako's stomach is growling loudly enough to frighten the Martian Army." A gentle smile spread across her face as she rose to her feet. "I'm happy for both of you." She turned and helped Minako stand, the blonde leading her fellow senshi out of the suite. Kazemaru fell into step directly behind Rei, the Martian entirely unconcerned with his presence in her blind spot. Ami grabbed Makoto's hand and held the Jovian back, her sapphire eyes concerned.

"Makoto, did you notice? Rei didn't even care that Kazemaru was walking just behind her. Martians never trust people to walk in their shadow, but she didn't care in the least. The three of them . . . they've become closer almost overnight. Who is he that they suddenly trust him so much?"

"Who is he that _I_ trust him so much?" Makoto murmured, following her team mates to the small dining hall where they ate when the Queen wasn't present. "We need to figure him out, Ami."

* * *

"Did you have a good night?"

Makoto couldn't help but blush at Haruka's question, the Uranian tightening the laces of her leather boots as the Jovian checked her bracers. Even though they would spend most of the day in senshi form, their teacher had insisted that they each wear appropriate armor in their civilian forms. "You told me that Mercurians are shy, but Ami was anything but last night. And she was very . . . forward this morning."

"They're shy when they're virgins, but after that they tend to pick up on their partner's level of sexuality. Ami's cousin Lilia probably had many off-world lovers before you met her. Whatever you said to Ami on the balcony last night pushed her over the edge. She's completely at ease with you now, so she won't need to hide behind that famous Mercurian modesty anymore. You two make a good pair."

Makoto watched the Uranian rise, remembering that she was supposed to be suspicious of the older warrior. "Who are you?"

"The teacher you need, the Perfect Wind to push you in the right direction, and your friend." Haruka left the barracks, a grumbling Jovian in her wake.

"I didn't ask for a riddle or the _meaning_ of your name." She would get a straight answer out of Kazemaru if it took her the rest of the day.

* * *

"It's easy enough to summon your power in your transformed state, but sometimes you might need your elemental strength in your civilian form. I want you all to summon a small amount of your element now."

Rei managed to form a fireball almost instantly, smiling as she let the small flame play across her hand. Ami, eyebrows furrowed, created a sphere of water next, turning it into ice and back to water as Haruka look on in approval. Makoto grinned as she balanced a ball of lighting in her palm, turning to Minako as the blonde leader of the Inner Senshi surrounded herself in a shower of golden light. Clearly, she would never have a problem summoning her power in her civilian form.

As soon as Haruka was satisfied with their abilities in civilian form, she had them all transform and practice destroying target dummies. The four senshi demonstrating their powers began to draw a crowd of nobles and servants, all of them eager to see the strength of the new guardians of the Sol System. Fire, lightning, ice, and light tore through the dummies, destroying the ground around them and creating quite a show for the watchers. Haruka grinned as she watched the senshi release their elemental strength without worry, drawing on the power of their planets to fuel their attacks.

"It looks like fun."

"It's practicing for war, Princess," Haruka replied, somehow not surprised to find young Serenity suddenly at her side. "Do you want to die so badly that you would be part of the coming battle?"

"I want the power to protect the ones I love."

"You don't have to be a warrior to have that." Haruka glanced down at the blonde by her side, sighing as she remembered the princess's request the night she arrived on the Moon. "It's time to go, isn't it?"

"We won't be gone long."

"I'll tell the senshi." Haruka walked to the edge of the field as the senshi took a short break, wind gusting around her. Mars and Venus looked up first, their attentive stance alerting Jupiter and Mercury to their teacher's presence. "You are all doing well. I have to go for a while on a mission for the Princess, but I'll return this afternoon. Until then, you should keep practicing."

"Who are you?" Jupiter fired her question at Haruka's back as the blonde returned to Princess Serenity's side. She would not be satisfied if the Uranian avoided answering her question again.

Haruka shrugged and waved one hand nonchalantly over her shoulder. "I'll tell you when I return."

* * *

"What is this place?"

Serenity shrugged, adjusting her dress nervously as she led Haruka into the small room. "Generations ago, Sailor Pluto had a series of transporters built on every planet so the queens could send their heirs away in times of emergency. We haven't had a war in a very long time, so these have been mostly forgotten. I found this one and programmed it to send me somewhere I could never take a ship."

"Where?"

"Just stand here with me and I'll show you." Haruka groaned at the innocent glance the princess shot her, knowing that those pale blue eyes were hiding something. Crossing her arms over her chest, Haruka stepped up onto the transporter platform beside Serenity, watching the princess type a command into the console at her side. An instant later, the pair of blondes disappeared.


	10. Breaking Point

**Chapter 10: Breaking Point**

* * *

_January 26, 8983_

* * *

"I was not expecting this." Haruka found herself in a garden filled with bushes covered in red roses, intricate stone paths wandering between the carefully-tended plants that thrived in the warm sunlight overhead. Serenity seemed at ease in the garden, but her child-like carefree abandon could not banish her guardian's concern. She noticed a cluster of buildings on a hill nearby, but the construction style was alien to her. One hand on her sword, emerald eyes scanning intently for danger, Haruka followed Serenity as the princess skipped through the flowers. "Where are you going, Princess?"

"He has to be here. Oh, there he is! Endymion!"

Serenity lifted her skirt and took off across the field, running much faster than Haruka would have believed possible in a dress. Cursing, the princess of Uranus dashed after her, eyes narrowing as she spotted the princess's target. Alone on a bench in the center of the rose garden, a tall man with black hair stared dreamily into the pale blue sky, a single red rose in his hand. Calling on the power of her element, Haruka sped past the princess, coming to a halt mere feet from the strange man, sword in front of her and a squirming princess held forcefully behind her. "Who are you?"

The man stood, shocked blue eyes taking in Serenity's presence before returning to the blonde warrior threatening him. Placing one hand on his own sword, the man drew himself up to his full and regal height. From the richness of his armor, it was obvious that he was nobility, but not of any planet Haruka had ever visited. Before the man could even speak, the Uranian turned her gaze upwards, eyes widening in shock. There, alone in the clear blue sky, hung the Moon she had been standing on just moments before. The sunlight here was real, not created by artificial weather systems, and only one world in the entire system could boast that distinction. "I am Prince Endymion of Earth."

Haruka whirled to face her princess, quickly sheathing her sword as she decided that the Earthling could not possibly pose a threat to her charge. "Earth," she growled, fury in her stance. "This place is forbidden! Serenity, you should not have come here."

"That's what I keep telling her," Endymion sighed, stepping forward to stand beside Haruka, facing Serenity. "I told you not to return."

"You told me not to return alone," Serenity replied, slipping free of Haruka's grip. "You said it would be too dangerous for me to come to the Earth without one of my guards. But see, I brought a protector with me, so it's alright for me to be here. Endymion, this is Haruka, Princess and senshi of Uranus."

Endymion raised one eyebrow and crossed his arms over his chest, leaning back slightly. His dark cape fluttered in the breeze meandering through his rose garden as he raked his eyes across the blonde woman dressed in the finery of a Uranian duke. "Princess? Serenity, I might have to disagree with you on that."

Haruka grinned and drew her sword again, running one long finger contemplatively across the glowing metal. "I heard that Earthlings have green blood. Shall we test that theory, _Prince_ Endymion?"

Serenity placed one hand on Haruka's chest and the other on Endymion's, pushing the two away from each other as the dark-haired prince reached for his own sword. "Boys, please don't fight. I don't have much time here and I can't spend it keeping you from killing each other."

"You certainly aren't spending it with him," Haruka replied, pulling the princess behind her again. "We should not have come here, Princess. It's my duty to protect you from all threats, and he certainly qualifies as one."

"You took a vow to protect me," Serenity whispered, hands wrapped around Haruka's sword arm in case she had to pull the Uranian back from attacking her prince once more. "Don't you think that includes protecting my heart from being broken?"

Haruka sheathed her sword again and turned to the girl hanging from her arm, suddenly remembering how young and innocent the princess actually was. "Your heart?"

"I'm in love with Endymion, and if you make me leave my heart will break. Could you really hurt me like that?"

Haruka furrowed her eyebrows, turning away from those sad blue eyes. "Of course not," she whispered. "But you're fourteen years old; how can you possibly know that you love him enough to defy your mother's law against traveling to this world?"

"In the case of soul mates, you know right away. Do you think Rei and Minako would not have known their destiny if they had met four years earlier? Trust me, Haruka, they would have known. They are soul mates, destined to be together, and their love is no different than mine, even though I am younger."

Haruka turned to the Earth Prince, some of the distrust in her emerald eyes gone. "Do you love my princess as much as she loves you?"

Endymion nodded, his stormy blue eyes meeting Serenity's lighter ones. "I love her enough to have told her multiple times that it isn't safe for her to come here."

"Not safe? How?" Haruka reluctantly released her princess into Endymion's arms, watching their interaction as she tried to determine if there was anything about the Earthling that should concern her.

"People of the Moon have never been terribly popular here. I don't want her to get hurt, especially since she insists on coming alone."

Haruka shrugged as she stepped away from the pair, reaching down to run her fingers across the petals of one of Endymion's roses. Most of the bushes in his garden sprouted red roses, but the petals under Haruka's fingers were pink. "It is strange to hear an Earth Prince worry about my princess as much as her own senshi do. I suppose . . . I am her Protector, right? As long as I am with her, it will be alright for her to visit you, Prince Endymion."

Serenity smiled as Endymion wrapped his arms around her, kissing the top of her head. "It's never going to be safe for you to come here, Serenity."

"I don't care. I just want to be with you. I trust you and Haruka to protect me."

* * *

Haruka let Serenity take her hand as the Moon Princess activated the transportation device Endymion had installed in the center of his rose garden. As the Earth vanished, the Uranian princess sighed. "Why did you choose me to guard you?"

"Do you really want to know, Haruka? I don't think you'll like the reason."

Haruka leaned against the wall in the small transporter chamber on the Moon, waving one hand for the princess to continue. Serenity stared down at her clasped hands, the roses Endymion had slipped into her buns threatening to fall. "I could have chosen any of the others, and they would have understood my feelings for Endymion immediately, but they weren't the ones who needed to see that today. I knew that one day you would come here, Haruka. Ever since I was a baby, I knew. But when I started to research the princess who had promised to protect me, I realized that you would be in pain when you finally arrived. After I found those communication logs over a year ago, I knew that you would be someone who had never known love, and as your princess I had to show you. I had to open your eyes."

Haruka clenched her fists, furious that her princess would choose her for her weakness, tears in her eyes as the truth of Serenity's words cut into her. "You chose me because I don't know love?" Her hands were shaking as she began to lose control of herself and her power. The wind she commanded gusted fitfully in the small space, as wild and confused as its princess.

"Haruka, please understand. You're a powerful warrior, and that's wonderful, but you have to be a senshi of _love_ as well as justice. Everything that you have seen on the Moon and now on Earth is opening your eyes to that. Don't you want to be loved?"

"No!" Haruka stepped forward, tears streaming down her cheeks as a rage she had never before experienced filled her frame. "Why would I want that? What has _love_ ever done for me? Shousha loved my mother years ago and because of that she suffers alone, without Kazeko, and punishes me for it! Rei and Minako are in love but one day the laws of this world will tear them apart!" She grabbed the empty air before her and threw her hands apart emphatically, the sudden gesture frightening the princess. "What good is your precious _love_ for them, or for Ami and Makoto? They will suffer and die every moment of every day for the rest of their lives because they dared to love now. I don't want it! I don't want any of it!"

"Haruka!"

"Be silent!" Haruka reached out and grabbed Serenity's arm with one hand, her grip tight enough to cause bruises, but she was too far gone in her rage to care. Martians were warriors of passion, their anger rising and falling quickly, but Uranians were warriors of patience. Their rage could build for years before they finally snapped, and the worlds were said to tremble when the Uranian Senshi lost her temper. Serenity realized with a terrible certainty that she had finally pushed Haruka too far.

"Where are we going?" She couldn't help but ask the question as Haruka dragged her out of the transporter room and its empty wing of the palace, the wind all but forcing her to follow the swift senshi.

"Back to your guardians," Haruka growled, her free hand resting on the hilt of her sword. "I'll have nothing more to do with you."

They emerged from the palace moments later, the training ground empty of onlookers. Sometime in the past couple of hours, everyone had left the senshi alone to train in peace, and the destruction of the fields was evidence that they had learned a lot. Haruka strode up to the four senshi, all of them still transformed though they were sitting down and taking a break, murder in her eyes. Mars and Venus jumped to their feet, confusion in their eyes as they both assumed a cautionary defense stance, having no idea what could have infuriated their friend. Jupiter joined them, Mercury hanging back as she analyzed the situation.

"Take her from me." Haruka pushed Serenity to the ground behind her, the young princess too scared to move as the Uranian drew her sword. "If you want to be her guardians, if you think you are _strong_ , then take your princess back."

Venus never hesitated. Summoning her chain, she swung at Haruka, grunting in surprise as the Uranian caught the glowing chain with her golden sword. Shaking her weapon mockingly, the blonde gestured for the senshi to attack her again. The flirtatious Haruka who had made a bet with Rei and Minako was gone, replaced by this cold, possibly insane, warrior of the skies. Mars had no idea what had happened to make the Uranian snap, but she knew what the consequences would be if they did not defeat her, and quickly. Summoning her bow, the Senshi of Flame jumped back to Mercury's position and fired, knowing that every arrow was perfectly on target. Haruka blocked the flaming arrows with the Space Sword, her speed even in civilian form more than a match for the Martian senshi.

Jupiter gathered her power, launching a series of thunderbolts at the blonde threatening her princess, all of them missing the agile warrior. Mercury also tried her attack, but Haruka avoided that as well. "You aren't trying," the Uranian growled, holding her sword before her as insanity danced in her darkening eyes. Wind gusted across the field, Mars and Venus glancing at each other as they tried to decide what to do. They had never before seen an enraged Uranian, but the stories they had heard frightened them, even more so because this was the senshi, with all of the powers of her planet and god.

Jupiter rushed the blonde, summoning her quarterstaff and imbuing it with her power. With a furious battle cry, her staff met Haruka's sword, lightning dancing between them. As the lightning reached for the Uranian, Haruka's form began to glow with her own dark golden power, a golden symbol appearing on her forehead as the wind struggled to push Jupiter away. Mars banished her bow and drew a pair of fiery swords, joining Jupiter in her assault on Haruka, Venus running in with her chain an instant later. Mercury used her power to freeze the ground around the warriors, struggling to control it so only Haruka's footing was impeded. "Snap out of it!" Mars growled, dancing away from Haruka's sword as she struggled to land a hit.

"You have to break this rage," Mercury called, her ice failing to slow the blonde warrior. "Uranians are considered the most fearsome warriors in the system because they keep so much of their wild fury contained. When they lose that control . . ."

Haruka laughed as she threw the trio of warriors off her with a burst of wind, the golden light from the symbol on her forehead spreading down to cover her body. An instant later, Sailor Uranus stood before the other senshi, her sword ready in her gloved hand.

Jupiter and Mercury stared at the woman in shock, everything they had seen over the past few days finally falling into place. "You're Haruka, the Princess of Uranus?"

"Haruka, please!" Serenity ran to stand in front of Uranus, tears in her eyes. "You don't want to fight them." Uranus raised her sword, eyes dark, pausing when Serenity placed a hand over the bow on her chest. _"You promised to protect me,"_ the princess whispered in Lunarian, smiling at the Senshi of the Skies. _"Protect me from yourself."_

Uranus fell to the ground as all of her strength vanished in an instant, the wind silent as she slowly sheathed her sword. "Just like that, huh?" The desperate insanity was gone from her voice, and her eyes, when she looked up at the hovering senshi, were just tired. "You could have snapped me out of that at any time. Why did you wait?"

"You didn't seem very eager to reveal your true self to the other senshi," Serenity whispered, kneeling on the ground beside Haruka and resting a gentle hand on her shoulder. "I know that you didn't really mean what you said in the palace."

"I meant it," Uranus whispered, watching as the four senshi sat down on the grass beside her, supporting her despite the battle they had just fought. "Their love will bring them pain for the rest of their lives. Why would I want that?"

"Why wouldn't you?" Mars reached out and took Uranus's hand in hers, amethyst eyes full of compassion. "After what you said to me about fighting for the one I love, you can't be ready to give up on that now."

"You love her and you have her now, but what about later?"

"What about later?" Venus echoed Uranus's words, but her tone was lighter, almost teasing. "So what if we can't stay together forever? We'll have each other for as long as possible in this life, then we'll meet again in the next life. Just because there are going to be hardships doesn't mean we should give up on finding our soul mate. If anything, knowing that one day we will be separated gives us a reason to treasure every moment we have together now. I love Rei, Haruka, more than I thought I could. I would never give up this time I have with her just because I know that it will end. You can't be afraid of love just because you are well-acquainted with loss."

"From one warrior to another," Jupiter whispered conspiratorially, "love is not any kind of weakness. After what you did to help me and Ami, after what you did to help Minako and Rei, you can't still believe that love makes us weak."

Serenity bit her lip anxiously, looking around at her senshi. "Do you forgive her for deceiving you? She came here to hide from her father."

Mercury grabbed Uranus's free hand, smiling as the older woman looked up at her. "Of course we forgive you. I guessed that you were hiding something as soon as we met, but I never thought it would be this. Makoto and I learned that you were abducted while we were on Uranus, but it seems now that you ran away."

The blonde senshi nodded, slowly gaining control of her emotions. "I needed to get away from him, from his rules and expectations. He hates that I don't conform to this feminine princess mold he has in his mind, but I am Uranian and I have to be myself, no matter who disapproves. After some of the things Serenity showed me from the day I was born, I'm glad I left."

"After what I did in order to fight in the Ganymede Invitational, how could I judge you for hiding your true self?" Jupiter turned to Mars and Venus, neither of whom had been surprised at Haruka's transformation. "How long have you two known?"

Venus blushed as she glanced at her partner. "She kind of gave herself away when we were talking about the Princess of Neptune. She told us that she knew that Michiru prefers stringed instruments, but no non-Neptunian has ever met her except us princesses at Serenity's Presentation. If you think about it, she gave herself away when she told us that she won the Invitational against the High Duchess of Callisto. The only Invitational where Duchess Rinae fought and lost was four years ago, when she took second place to Princess Haruka of Uranus. Rinae won the next year."

Jupiter snorted, nodding as she fiddled with the pink bow on the front of her uniform. "I should have caught that, since it's a contest hosted by my planet. At least now I know why I have been so comfortable around you. It's natural to trust your fellow senshi."

Uranus released Mars's and Mercury's hands, pushing herself to her feet as Serenity and the senshi also rose. "All of you make a good team, as you proved today, and I am happy to call you my friends. As for me, I have a different mission, and I have to find the truth of this vision I have seen before the meeting on Titan. I will think about what you said, but I don't think there is some great, destined love in my future."

"I hope you're wrong," Serenity whispered, pulling her guardians away from Uranus as she sensed what the Wind Senshi was planning. "Good luck."

Haruka raised her gloved hand to the sky, calling on her power as a tornado of wind surrounded her form. Moments later, she was gone. "Where did she go, Princess?"

"She has a mission, Mars. The senshi of the Outer Planets are often secretive when there is a threat to the Silver Millennium, but I promise you that she will return."

* * *

Setsuna stared at the Time Knot floating in the air before her, garnet eyes flicking between two points that seemed to be changing. One part of the knot was golden, glowing with an inner light that seemed to depict a senshi, while another part was a bright aqua color. The aqua color seemed to darken for a moment before that part of the knot quieted, but the golden part compressed in on itself as the Senshi of Time watched. Other threads of the knot brightened in response to the darkness of the golden strand, but their actions didn't seem to have any effect. Setsuna reached out and pulled the golden knot free of the larger tangled mess, staring at the angrily pulsing strand between her fingers.

"Haruka," she sighed, her free hand tightening on the Time Staff. "I can't tell if you're going to destroy this world or save it, but you can't do it on your own. I hope you can find what you're looking for before you self-destruct."

"Majesty?" Setsuna released the knot, turning to look at the young servant kneeling at the base of her throne as she gestured for him to speak. "King Koshu of Uranus is here, _requesting_ an audience with your magnificence." From the tone of the servant's voice, it was obvious that Koshu had demanded an audience, rather than requesting.

Setsuna sighed and stood, her customary black dress having been exchanged for a simpler dark garnet one. Resting her staff against her throne, the dark queen descended to the floor and waited patiently for the King of Uranus to enter the chamber. Her mind flicked to the meeting of the War Queens the day Kazeko died, remembering how pivotal she had been in convincing those ten very powerful Uranian women that they should keep Kazeko's husband and King-Regent until Haruka came of age. From the recent reports she had received from Oberon, it seemed that they were beginning to doubt that decision.

Koshu thundered into the room, his boots thudding even through the thick carpet, his dark blonde hair as wild and untamed as his daughter's had been the last time Setsuna had seen her. "You're looking more and more like a Uranian every day," Setsuna observed, her words cold and hard. She was not in the mood to deal with the agitated king when there was a darkness threatening the Silver Millennium.

"Where did she go? You sent Kazeko off to explore this system decades ago; you must have stolen the Space Sword and told Haruka to do the same. Where is my daughter?"

"I honestly don't think I've heard you use that word in over twenty years."

"What?" He was caught off-guard by her words, though his anger did not abate.

"Daughter. You've never called that child your daughter."

"What does it matter what I call her? Where did you send her?"

Setsuna narrowed her garnet eyes as she took a step closer to the irate blonde king, her servants scattering toward the exits as they sensed the onset of their queen's anger. "You dare storm into _my_ throne room and ask where I sent the child you have neglected despite my warning fourteen years ago? You chose a fine time to start to care about the welfare of Kazeko's daughter."

"Setsuna, I demand—"

"You _demand_?!" Setsuna's sharp words silenced the king as she strode over to her raised throne and grabbed the physical manifestation of the time knot. Holding it carefully in her hand, she tossed it to Koshu, the shocked Uranian King watching it float above his outstretched palms. "Do you see that? _That_ is the end of us all. If I cannot unravel that time knot, everything you know and love will perish. Your daughter is an integral part of this future you see. I can't tell what part she will play, but she is out where she belongs, out among the planets. She will return when she is supposed to."

"I don't care about your premonitions of destruction . . ."

"You should." Setsuna leaned out and grabbed Koshu's collar with one hand, black power sparking around her slender form as the knot fell out of his hands and floated back to hover above its data pad beside Setsuna's throne. "And you may currently be the King of Uranus," she whispered, the threat in her voice making the man tremble, "but you were born a noble of _my_ court and you will always show me the proper respect. If you _ever_ speak to me in that tone of voice again, I will end your _pathetic_ little existence. Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes, Majesty," Koshu whispered shakily, falling to his knees when Setsuna released him. Without daring to look into Setsuna's eyes again, Koshu fled the throne room, leaving the Queen of Pluto alone in her great hall.

"Someone is getting tired of living among mortals."

"Not tired of them, Aph," Setsuna whispered, "just weary of their arrogance. Koshu has always been wild and a bit of a troublemaker, which is why I paired him with Kazeko in the first place. She kept him in line."

"Oh, you're a matchmaker now?" Setsuna turned to glare at her visitor, the Goddess of Love sitting comfortably in the air above Pluto's throne.

"That's a new look."

Aphrodite ran one hand across the soft satin of her heavily embroidered red dress, possibly the first thing she had worn in centuries that actually covered most of her body. The neckline was modest for the goddess, the sleeves reached her elbows, and the skirt hung to her feet. "Ares took me to a party in the Antares system. The gods there have a different fashion than we do, so I borrowed one of their dresses. It's actually quite elegant, covering up your body like this."

Setsuna rolled her eyes and checked on her holographic time knot, making sure it had returned correctly to its base on the stand next to her throne. "The rest of us do it all the time. Why are you here?"

"Oh, I just wanted to watch you vent your frustration on that mortal father of Haruka's. I've been watching her enjoy her time on the Moon."

"Oh, is that where she went?"

"Yes. She left, though, and none of us followed her." Aphrodite tilted her head as she considered her next words. "She's in a lot of pain, Se, as the daughters of Uranus often are. Will she be alright?"

"Kazeko went through something similar when she was young." Setsuna reached up and touched the edge of Aphrodite's invisible chair, pushing it aside so she could return to her throne. The Goddess of Love growled in mock irritation, silencing at the odd light in Setsuna's eyes. "I have been here too long."

"You've been mortal over a hundred years this time," Aphrodite agreed, remembering that dark, lonely timbre in Setsuna's voice. It was hard for a god to live as a mortal, and she had done it more than a dozen times. "Will you return to Olympus soon?"

"I fear that I will never set foot there again," Setsuna whispered. "I have put off many things in my life for too long, and I find that I do not want to do them. I do not want to get married and birth an heir, even though I have done it so many times already. Now, looking at this time knot, I wonder if that choice has been taken from me. I have to go see this disturbance for myself, Aph. I can't put it off any longer."

"Let me go with you. You shouldn't go into the Time Stream alone." Se was the only god with the power to walk the Time Stream without losing her way, but the rest of the Pantheon often wondered if the burden of her duty might one day break her.

Setsuna stood from her throne, transforming into Sailor Pluto as she held her Time Key before her. Aphrodite stepped down from her floating invisible chair and joined Setsuna in front of the throne. "I'm always alone, Aph," Setsuna whispered as she used her power to open the Gates of Time.

* * *

Haruka opened her eyes slowly, not sure why she had been asleep. Groaning, she pushed herself to her knees, burying her fingers in the pale blue sand beneath her and raising one hand to brush the blue particles off her cheek. This sand was softer than any she had experienced so far, and the color was odd. To her left, waves pounded against the sandy shore, an artificial sun sitting low on the horizon. "I must be pretty far from the Moon," she mused, rising to her feet and brushing the last of the sand from her suit.

"You certainly are."

Haruka spun at the voice, shocked emerald eyes meeting the amused teal ones of the most beautiful woman she had ever seen. Haruka's eyes took in the porcelain skin and long, aqua hair of her companion as the elegant woman watched her patiently. People from her world tended to have sun-tanned skin, always scarred from a lifetime of fighting and the desert, and there were very few worlds that could boast a woman that had clearly never seen violence of any kind. "Is this Neptune?"

The other woman giggled and pointed across the sea. "No, _that's_ Neptune." Haruka glanced up at the blue gas giant sitting serenely on the horizon, sighing at the aqua-haired woman's literal response to her question. " _This_ is Triton."

"You know what I meant."

"Hmm, I'm sure I did. It's not often I find strangers on my private beach." The woman took the edges of her knee-length skirt in her hands, dropping into a perfect curtsy as she smiled at her surprise guest. "I am Princess Michiru of Neptune. Who are you?"

"K-Kazemaru, child of the High Duke of Umbriel," Haruka managed, unable to form a coherent thought in the unexpected presence of the princess she had wanted to meet again for fourteen years. The girl she had spoken to on the Moon years earlier had been well-mannered and pretty, but the adult version was gorgeous and elegant with a refined air of maturity that made her seem older than Haruka.

Michiru raised one hand to her mouth as she chuckled, something so incredibly feminine about the action that Haruka started. "You speak in riddles! The High Duke of Umbriel is not a real position in the Uranian Royal Court. That was the honorary title given to the mysterious dark goddess who impregnated War Queen Lasuriya of Oberon and fathered Kazeko, the first Queen and Senshi of your world who united all of the War Queens and Moons of Uranus, a thousand years before the coalition between the worlds was codified into the Silver Millennium under the newly-crowned Queen Serenity. All you are saying is that you are a child of the royal line."

"Well, it worked on the other princesses." Haruka had to admit that she was supremely impressed. Not only was Michiru familiar with the early history of Uranus, she had also read the original Ancient Oberonian Sagas that identified the High Duke of Umbriel as a _goddess_ , despite the fact that she _fathered_ the first Queen of Uranus. Every off-world translation claimed that the High Duke had been a male god. It seemed that Haruka had finally met her match.

"Is that so? Do they also know that Kazemaru, which means _Perfect Wind_ in the High Mirandan dialect, is a coveted title bestowed on the finest warriors of your world, and is, therefore, not your name?"

Haruka grinned, already liking this princess. "Well, they _do_ know that it isn't my name, though I was granted the title Kazemaru by my father four years ago when I won the Ganymede Invitational Tournament. The princesses certainly did not know the meaning of my introduction."

"Then what is your real name?"

"Haruka." There was no reason to lie, especially since Michiru was destined to stand with her against the coming darkness as Sailor Neptune. They might as well start their partnership off on solid footing.

Michiru's eyes widened as she took a step forward, one hand held to her chest. "I met a Haruka of Uranus once. Are you her, the princess who plays the piano?"

"Yes."

"Oh, this is wonderful! I've been hoping that someday I would meet you so we could play together." Something about Michiru's suggestive inflection on the word "play" made Haruka blush, the Neptunian laughing at her companion's reaction.

"What is it with people remembering words I said as a child fourteen years ago?"

"Don't you want to play with me?" Now she was definitely flirting. Haruka stepped forward and took Michiru's hand in hers, eyes dark green with desire, faint flecks of gold swirling through their depths.

"You should be careful of the words you speak to a Uranian. You might not like my reaction, princess." She kept her husky voice low, determined to show the aqua-haired Neptunian that she was the better flirt.

"Then again, I might." Michiru slipped free of Haruka's grasp, heading away from the beach and toward a massive castle that dominated the eastern horizon. "You probably want to follow me," she called over her shoulder.

Haruka sighed and followed the aqua-haired woman who clearly possessed the ability to resist her best sexy voice. She had a strange feeling that her solitary life was about to change forever.

* * *

"I must admit, I was surprised to find you on my beach this afternoon."

"I was surprised to be there," Haruka admitted as she sipped the fruity drink Michiru had provided. It was a little sweet for her palette, but not bed. "How long was I laying out there on the beach?"

"Hours. I noticed you early this afternoon but I think you had been there for a little while by then. I watched you for about two hours after that. How did you get there?"

"Senshi have the ability to teleport themselves from one place to another." Haruka poked at the food on her plate as she tried to remember what she was thinking about when she vanished from the Moon. "I think that coming this far sapped all of my strength. I've never gone further than two or three planets at a time before."

"Why did you come here?" Unlike Haruka, Michiru had finished her food at a steady pace, cleaning her plate while giving the impression that she had not eaten much at all. Her utensils sat patiently on the edge of her napkin, but she did not pressure her guest to stop playing with her food. It was clear that the princess usually ate alone, without the company of family or friends, and she was greatly enjoying the Uranian's company.

"Many reasons. One, I have wanted to see you again since we were children. What you said to me that day stuck in my mind. My father told me years ago that he and I were not welcome on Triton, so I have never come before."

"You're here now because my mother is at Kazeko's grave."

Haruka nodded. "The Mourning of Queen Kazeko lasts for two weeks on Oberon. From what Princess Serenity said to me, I suppose that Shousha stays for the entire event. I have never attended the full event, only the first day, but I have seen her attend every year. This year, I don't think my father is even present; he's out in the Solar System somewhere searching for me. It'd be the first time in years that he has cared about my well-being in the slightest." Haruka's last words were bitter, but tinged with a weary acceptance. Michiru thought it would be best not to delve into the causes of the rift between father and daughter.

"What was your second reason?"

"I learned that you knighted Taichen Laira for her role in _Winds of Uranus_. You have good taste in movies and even better taste in women." Haruka hadn't meant for the last bit to come across flirtatiously, but from Michiru's blush it had been received that way.

"You think so? She was a lot like you, Princess Haruka."

"Really? In what way? And if it was just because she has blonde hair and green eyes, that isn't enough. She's from Titania, where those traits are common."

"It wasn't her looks. She had your personality. She did not stop flirting with me the entire time she was on Triton." Michiru blushed at the memory of the actress cornering her after the party celebrating her new Knighthood.

Haruka chuckled as she placed her fork on her plate. "Yes, that sounds like her. Most of my people are harsh warriors, since we are trained to that from birth, but there are a few exceptions, like Laira."

"And like you?" Michiru stood from the table, holding her hand out to Haruka. The Uranian joined the other princess as she left the table, Michiru taking a seat on a nearby couch. She looked up at Haruka expectantly, patting the cushion beside her, and the blonde reluctantly sat down.

"Michiru, there is a third reason I came."

The Neptunian princess turned away, her teal eyes dark. "My visions."

"Yes." Haruka rested her hand on the hilt of sword, sighing as her green eyes swirled with gray. "There is a darkness coming that could be powerful enough to swallow the Silver Millennium. I believe that Saturn is awakening to combat it."

"No!"

"As senshi of the Outer System, we have to stop it."

"I'm not a senshi." Michiru's voice was soft as she stared at her hands, wishing that she could answer the blonde differently. More than anything, she wanted to be with Haruka, but she had still not received her henshin stick.

She looked up as Haruka took her hand, surprised at how close those emerald eyes were to her. "Your mother certainly isn't," the blonde whispered. "Who does that leave?"

"I don't have my henshin stick."

"You're still _my_ Sailor Neptune."

Michiru blushed at the intensity in Haruka's voice. "Is this battle in my premonitions the true reason you came here now?"

Haruka reached up and ran her fingers through Michiru's aqua hair, smiling gently at the younger woman. "No. It's the reason I _had_ to come here now. I've wanted to come ever since I met you on the Moon that day."

Michiru leaned into Haruka's hand, her eyes softening. "I'm glad." Haruka stood from the couch, releasing Michiru as she walked to the other side of the room. "Why are you pulling away?"

Haruka stared out into the darkness, stars twinkling in the night sky while blue Neptune floated on the horizon. She remembered from her studies that Triton always faced the gas giant, even as the Moon always faced the Earth. "I have been given a mission to protect the Silver Millennium. While I was on the Moon, I forgot myself for a while, but I cannot afford to relax now. I have to find a way to help you get your henshin stick so we can locate the source of our premonitions and save this kingdom. You understand why it has to be this way."

Michiru smiled gently as she stood, joining Haruka by the window and resting one hand on the taller woman's shoulder. "As much as I don't like your answer, I understand. I've waited my whole life for you to come here, Uranus Haruka, and I can wait until this evil is vanquished to be with you. Even if it is because of the battles we must fight, I will be happy just to stand by your side."

Haruka smiled and wrapped one arm around the slender princess, holding her close as they watched the stars cross the sky.


	11. Seas of Neptune

**Chapter 11: Seas of Neptune**

* * *

_January 27, 8983 – February 11, 8983_

* * *

"I've never used a weapon before."

"Any weapon?" Michiru shook her head, and Haruka sighed. "I'm not sure how much I can teach you. I'm not really sure how much I _should_ teach you. Your people are known for their pacifism, and I wonder how Sailor Neptune even fights."

"We can fight, but we simply prefer not to. My mother was proficient with her powers when she had to fight on Pluto decades ago, but I have never seen her handle a weapon."

"Well, we can't practice your powers until you have them. I can at least teach you some unarmed combat and basic self-defense." Haruka raised her hands and indicated that Michiru should copy her stance, throwing a quick punch and watching curiously as her partner dodged it. "As Sailor Neptune, you will have the power of premonition, right? It seems that you already have a little of that. You saw my punch coming."

Michiru nodded as she watched Haruka. "It was kind of like a pressure on my side telling me to move. I have to completely trust that feeling. I think that it will be easier when I receive my powers."

"Close your eyes."

"Eh?"

Haruka shrugged. "Close your eyes. Just focus on that feeling you were talking about and you'll avoid all of my attacks."

Michiru nodded and took a deep breath, closing her eyes as she waited for Haruka to attack. The blonde moved an instant later, watching as Michiru dodged her kicks and punches, eventually raising her arms to block Haruka's attacks. The princess of Uranus kept her attacks at half strength, knowing that her opponent was no warrior, but Michiru blocked her next punch and grabbed the blonde's wrist. "Don't hold back," she hissed as she opened her eyes, the teal color almost sapphire as she accessed her latent powers. "If you treat me like I'll break, I'll never learn anything."

Shocked at the princess's words and the determination in her eyes, Haruka nodded and stepped back, preparing to attack again. She struck with her full Uranian speed and power, grinning when Michiru blocked her first punch and dodged her second. Michiru, her intense eyes never leaving Haruka's, began to glow with the aqua color of her power as she gave herself over to the spirit of her world. As the glow around Michiru increased, so did her premonition ability, slowly reaching the point where she could see what move Haruka was planning to make before the blonde had even decided herself.

Haruka grunted as Michiru landed a punch on her shoulder, moving to counterattack as her sparring partner grunted in pain and fell to her knees.

"Michiru?" Haruka fell to her knees beside the shaking princess, pulling Michiru into her arms. "What's wrong?"

"That premonition of darkness again," Michiru whispered, grateful for the strength in Haruka's embrace. "Maybe I shouldn't try to access the power of Neptune without my henshin stick. I don't think my head has ever hurt this much in my life."

"Do you need to go lie down?"

"No, just let me rest here for a minute." Michiru looked up at Haruka, smiling at the concern in the Uranian's emerald eyes. "I might have to wait until tomorrow to train again. Without my full powers, this is very taxing."

"Does your mother know that not having your henshin stick and talisman is killing you?" She ran her fingers through Michiru's hair, staring at the imposing castle towering over them. For a moment, she had forgotten the rest of the Silver Millennium, but Michiru's growing powers reminded her why she had traveled to Triton. "She didn't leave them here, by chance?"

"No. She hasn't transformed into Sailor Neptune since before I was born, but she still carries the mirror and henshin stick with her. Recently, I've been considering breaking into the armory so I can look into the Aqua Mirror, but she has never given me the chance. How did you get your henshin stick?"

Haruka shrugged as she helped Michiru to her feet. "Pluto stole them for me. My father was planning to give them to me as soon as I chose a husband and became the kind of queen he wanted."

"A husband? You?"

"Yes, well, that was my response. I don't have an interest in men." She glanced down at Michiru, raising one eyebrow at the amusement in her companion's eyes. "Does your mother know that you prefer women, as well?"

"Well, no. I thought it would be better not to let her know. I've met a few suitors, all of them from Neptune, but I have rejected each one. I have also sent politely-worded refusals to all of the letters I receive from off-world nobles. Mother thinks I do it to rebel against her, but the truth is that I've been waiting for you."

"Is that so? I've been waiting for you, too." Haruka leaned down and kissed Michiru's forehead, desperate for contact with the slender princess but determined to keep their relationship professional. "If we can't practice combat, what would you like to do?"

Michiru's eyes lit up as she turned to face the sea. "Let's go swimming."

"Swimming?"

Michiru chuckled at the skepticism in her partner's voice. "It's good for building strength. Come on, I'll race you." Slipping free of Haruka's arms, Michiru took off across the pale blue sand of her private beach, her aqua hair streaming in the wind. Unable to resist either a challenge or a chase, Haruka dashed after her, knowing that she would easily overtake the younger princess. Surprisingly, they reached the water's edge at the same moment, the Neptunian pausing to strip out of the loose gray pants and shirt Haruka had chosen for her training session, dropping her undergarments in a neat pile on top of a large chest sitting above the high tide mark before diving into the sea she loved.

"What, naked? Michiru, you have got to be kidding."

"It's a private beach," Michiru replied, the sea hiding her body from Haruka's eyes, though just barely. "No one will see us. Even the servants are forbidden here unless I bring them myself to tidy up after a storm. Take off your clothes."

"You just want to see me naked."

"Well, I admit that I need proof of your femininity. Everything I've seen so far makes me think that you are a man."

Haruka rolled her eyes as she unbuttoned her jacked and threw it haphazardly on top of Michiru's carefully folded clothes, dropping her pants and undershirt on the sand beside them. She felt Michiru's intense aqua eyes watching her as she unwrapped the tight cloth she used to bind her breasts, though they were almost small enough that she didn't need it. She hesitated before removing her last article of clothing, having never stripped for someone she did not plan to immediately bed. How could she keep their relationship platonic if Michiru insisted on swimming naked together? Sighing, Haruka removed her underwear, gold-flecked emerald eyes rising to meet lust-darkened sapphire ones.

"Are you happy now?" Even to her own ears, Haruka could tell that her voice was even huskier than usual. She had wanted Michiru to see her for days, ever since she appeared on this moon, but only the other princess's gentle request could have forced this situation.

"A little too happy," Michiru replied, the blush on her cheeks spreading down to her chest. "Come in the water, Haruka."

The blonde obeyed, naturally wary of the sea when her world had nothing like it. Michiru floated closer to her, staying just out of arm's reach for both of their sakes, glancing down at the water gently lapping against Haruka's breasts. "You tie them?"

"Well, the suits I wear are kind of tight around the chest. If I didn't tie my breasts back, it would be very obvious."

"Does it hurt?"

"Does your corset hurt? There's very little difference." Haruka glared at the greenish water surrounding her, the salty tang of the ocean irritating her nose. "Are you sure it's relaxing to be in this much salt water?"

Michiru chuckled, finally moving close enough to touch Haruka's cheek. "You worry too much. Just enjoy this experience."

Haruka managed to spend almost an hour cavorting with the aqua-haired siren, ending their games when her hunger forced her to shore. Standing on the blue sand, she tried desperately to wring the salty water from her hair and shake the sand off her feet, having little success. Michiru chuckled as she followed Haruka from the water, removing her clothes from the top of the chest and opening the waterproof box. Pulling out two towels, she tossed one to the irritated blonde, using the other to dry her hair and body before slipping back into her loose training pants and shirt. Wrapping the towel around her hair and grabbing her shoes, Michiru headed back to her palace.

Haruka caught up with her moments later, towel draped around her neck, jacket in one hand and boots in the other. Without the bandages around her chest, Haruka looked a lot more feminine. Haruka caught Michiru staring at her as they left the sandy beach and paused on the grass of the garden that skirted the castle to slip into their shoes. "What?" She dropped her undershirt on the ground and struggled to rewrap her bandages while Michiru watched her with possessive teal eyes.

"Even though I can't be with you in the way that I know we both want, you're mine, Uranus Haruka. I'm just glad that no one else gets to look at you."

Haruka chuckled as she slipped back into her shirt and grabbed her jacket. "Ah, is that why you wanted to go swimming today?"

"Of course. One always inspects an item before claiming ownership."

Haruka narrowed her emerald eyes at the princess walking by her side through the gardens. "I should be offended."

"But you aren't." Michiru's matter-of-fact response left Haruka smiling, the blonde amazed that her new companion could read her so well. "Let's take a bath before eating. I don't like the feeling of salt in my hair after it dries."

* * *

"Again. Attack me this time, Michiru. We'll never get anywhere if you just run away."

Michiru sighed and lowered her arms, ignoring her teacher's glare. "We aren't going to get anywhere like this. Haruka, every fiber of my being is telling me _not_ to fight you. What do you expect? I'm supposed to be your partner, not your enemy. Why can't we try fighting as a team against someone else?"

Haruka lowered her own arms, taking a moment to consider the princess's plea. Michiru, having exchanged her loose outfit for leather armor three training sessions earlier, had become quite a challenge for Haruka, but the blonde senshi could tell that her partner's heart was not in the fight. In truth, Haruka was just as reluctant to hit Michiru. "You want to fight someone else?"

"Haruka we've trained against each other all week. Maybe it's time we train _with_ each other. There are several fine warriors among my mother's personal guard who would train with us."

Haruka nodded, following Michiru into the castle and out to the main training grounds. "What about the members of your personal guard?"

Michiru shrugged as she waved a hand to summon a hovering servant. "I don't have a personal guard, Haruka. I never leave the palace, so there is little to guard me against." She sent the servant to find the captain of her mother's guard, all of whom were always left behind when Shousha traveled to Uranus for Kazeko's memorial.

Haruka glared at the tall man who approached, nine subordinates in his wake as he entered the training ground. "The leader is strong, but his bulk makes him slow," Haruka murmured, laying out the weaknesses of their opponents for Michiru's benefit. "The two behind him are weak but fast, so don't let them out of your sight. That one in the middle looks Martian, which gives him strength and power, but not speed. As long as you don't get into single combat with him, I can keep him off balance and defeat him. The next four are just muscle, nothing important and very easy to beat, even for someone new to fighting. And where did your mother find a Jovian for her personal guard? That one will be strong and she has quite a long reach. You won't be able to prevent her from striking you, hard, if she gets close, so stay away from her. As for that last one, she's from Uranus so she has both speed and agility on her side."

"How should I deal with her?"

"Same way you deal with me. Counter everything and hope for an opening."

The captain of the guard, a tall man with dark blue hair, bowed to the princess, his distrustful pale green eyes never leaving Haruka. "How may we be of service to you, Highness?"

Michiru smiled, the feminine gesture clashing with her warrior outfit. "We would like to fight against you. We've been training against each other for too many days and we would like a new opponent."

If the captain found Michiru's request odd, he had the good sense not to say anything. "Of course, Your Highness. Which of us would you like to fight?"

"All of you." Her sweet, confident words shocked the guards, all of them fidgeting uncomfortably at the request. Even the captain looked surprised.

"All of us? Your Highness . . ."

"I hope I was not unclear," Michiru replied sweetly, venom hidden in her soft words. Watching the exchange, Haruka realized that her gentle partner had no love for the captain of Shousha's guard, and she would relish the chance to defeat him in unarmed combat. "We will be fighting without weapons. I also do not want any of you to hold back, because I promise that we will not."

The guards shed their weapons quickly, gathering in a semicircle before the two princesses. Haruka turned to Michiru, placing her hands on the other woman's shoulders as the captain tensed at such informality toward his princess. "Just relax and do the same thing you've done with me this past week," Haruka murmured, trying to give some of her strength and confidence to her partner. "Focus on your power. You should be able to feel me first, since you are used to my aura, but don't attack until you can feel all of your opponents, too." Michiru nodded and closed her eyes as Haruka walked back to her side, eyes on the group of guards. "The princess will make the first move," the tall blonde announced, her stance daring any of the guards to argue.

Silence settled on the group as Michiru gathered her power, faint aqua light flickering around her slender form. Without even the slightest warning, Michiru's eyes shot open and she attacked. Haruka moved with her, choosing her target as Michiru attacked her own. They moved as a unit, Michiru dispatching the first two guards while Haruka scattered the rest of the group. The blonde easily knocked down the four warriors she had described as "just muscle", keeping the Jovian and Uranian occupied while Michiru faced off against the captain and the Martian.

Haruka dodged the Jovian's attack, finding Michiru at her back as they spun around and switched positions, the blonde landing a punch that broke the Martian's nose while her partner ducked low and kicked at the Jovian's leg. Haruka heard something behind her snap, then Michiru was gone again, leading the Uranian guard away from Haruka and her two opponents. Haruka laughed as the Martian tried to stop the flow of blood from his nose, ducking the captain's next attack and kicking the Martian in the chest with all of the strength her royal line could boast. The Martian cried out in pain as his sternum cracked from the force of Haruka's kick, falling on the ground beside the Jovian with the broken leg. With only one opponent each left, Haruka felt Michiru's back against hers again.

Haruka dodged the captain's fist and turned to the side, dashing off across the training field, Michiru at her side. Haruka ran as fast as she could, faster than the wind could cross the same distance, and somehow Michiru kept up with her. Despite the battle, the Uranian princess allowed herself a moment to admire the Neptunian's power and determination, sensing the other Uranian falter in her steps. Never before had anyone been able to match her pace, but her partner would not be left behind.

As they reached the edge of the field, Haruka turned on one heel, grabbing the Uranian guard's arm and throwing her to the ground, counting on the other woman's flagging strength from the run to keep her there. Michiru chuckled at the final guard's fate before ducking the captain's final attack, slipping under his arm and burying her elbow in his throat. With a shocked gurgle, the captain of the Queen's Guard fell to the ground, barely able to draw air into his lungs. The Uranian groaned and rolled onto her side, clutching her broken rib and possibly broken arm, all of their companions lying on the ground hundreds of feet away.

Haruka nodded in satisfaction, adrenaline coursing through her veins as she was finally able to use her full strength against a decent enemy. She turned to Michiru, the other woman's teal eyes filled with the joy of a battle well-fought. "For a pacifist, you sure take to fighting well."

"It's all in the partner," Michiru returned, the aqua light fading from her body. With a scream of pain, she fell to the ground, muscle spasms leaving her quivering on the ground, unfocused eyes searching desperately for her partner.

"Michiru!" Haruka scooped the Neptunian into her arms, holding her close as the medics flocked toward them. Spasms tore through the young princess's slender form, Haruka barely able to hold on to her.

"What happened?"

"I don't know," Haruka growled, letting the nearest medic rest a hand on Michiru's forehead. There were always a handful nearby when the training field was occupied, ready to heal any injury sustained. "She always gets headaches after trying to use her power, but never anything as bad as this."

"She seems to be having a seizure." The medic grabbed a small device from her bag, placing it on the princess's forehead and tapping a command. Slowly, Michiru's convulsions stopped, the exhausted woman barely able to focus on Haruka's face. "Princess, how do you feel?"

"It hurts," Michiru whispered, her voice weak. Haruka pulled her closer, forcing back her tears as the princess relaxed in her arms. "I just want to lie down."

"Yes, Highness, that would be best. Should I have the medics carry you to your chambers?"

"No, Ruka will take me."

Haruka rose to her feet, cradling Michiru to her chest as she turned back to the castle. The medics scattered to tend the injured guards, trusting the princess into the care of her visiting Uranian soldier. Haruka felt Michiru relax in her arms, slowly regaining her strength as they reached her chambers. Haruka carefully placed Michiru on her bed, eyes scanning for any lingering effects from her episode. "I'm fine," Michiru assured her partner, leaning back into her pile of pillows. "Just let me rest until dinner."

Haruka nodded and draped a light blanket over the princess, stripping out of her armor and dropping it in the chair by the window, heading into Michiru's private bath. As soon as the blonde was gone, Michiru removed her own grimy armor and placed it neatly on the floor to be cleaned and oiled, gathering a robe and heading for her secondary bathing chamber, trying to keep her mind off of the vision she had almost seen in the middle of her seizure.

* * *

Haruka sat on the roof of the castle staring out at the stars. From her balcony two wings over, Michiru watched the senshi statue. Michiru's wing of the palace was separate from most of the main rooms, so there was little chance that anyone was going to see a senshi on the roof, especially one that had been explicitly banned by the Neptunian queen so many years earlier. The princess had wanted to see her partner as a senshi, but even the sight of Haruka's feminine uniform did nothing to break the dark cloud that had hung between them since her seizure.

After a silent and very strained dinner, the blonde had transformed into Sailor Uranus and jumped up to the roof, her gray eyes hard. She had settled into a watchful position facing Neptune hanging in the night sky, one long leg pulled up to support her chin while the other one dangled carelessly from the edge of the roof, arms wrapped loosely around both. She hadn't told Michiru what she was watching, but the younger woman was getting worried.

"Haruka?"

Sailor Uranus looked down from her perch at the soft call, blue-gray eyes hard in the dim light. She stared at Michiru for a long moment before standing up and walking across the roof, her steps deliberate but wary. Reaching the roof above Michiru's chambers, Haruka jumped down, her transformation fading in a swirl of pink rose petals.

"I should never have taught you to fight."

When Haruka finally spoke, her words were barely a whisper, but Michiru sensed the self-hatred in her partner's voice. The blonde blamed herself for Michiru's condition.

"Ruka . . ."

"These headaches of yours have been getting worse, haven't they? Every time you use your power, they get worse. And now you're having seizures!"

"That wasn't my first seizure."

Haruka's eyes widened at Michiru's admission. "How many have you had? I've only ever seen you get headaches."

"I usually only get headaches when I'm using my power actively, but at night I keep having these visions of destruction, urgent ones, and I feel like there's something I need to do. Right when I can almost see through the darkness, a headache or seizure ends it. You aren't making it worse, Ruka, I promise."

Haruka sighed and wrapped her arms around Michiru, tucking the aqua-haired woman's head under her chin. "What are we going to do? I can't fight something like this."

"I just need the mirror so I can see what my dreams are trying to show me." Michiru smiled as Haruka's aura embraced her, making her feel safe for the first time in her life. "I think we should train the same way tomorrow. I'll get the medic to give me something to prevent seizures ahead of time and I won't push the vision."

Haruka closed her emerald eyes, relaxing as Michiru's aura washed over her, soothing her shattered nerves. "Can you control it?"

"I think so. I'm not the first Princess of Neptune to suffer from debilitating visions before receiving the mirror. I'm sure everything is going to be alright."

"Everything _is_ going to be alright," Haruka whispered. "I'll make sure of it."

* * *

"I don't feel like training today."

Haruka raised one eyebrow as she grabbed her bracers off of the table in Michiru's main suite. "Then what do you feel like doing, Your Highness?" She wasn't very surprised by Michiru's words, especially since she had thrown herself vigorously into her training over the past week, ever since her seizure on the training field.

Michiru laughed gently into one hand, a dark navy-blue dress draped over one arm, a fluffy towel obscuring her slender form. "I thought we could visit my favorite place."

"Judging from that flimsy piece of cloth hanging from your arm, my leather armor will not be acceptable for this visit."

Michiru shook her head, an amused smile brightening her face. "I was hoping you would wear a dress."

"No."

"Oh, come on. No one will see you except me, and I've already seen you naked."

Oh, those eyes. Haruka felt Michiru exerting every ounce of control she held over the blonde, trying to convince her Uranian to don a dress just this once. "I haven't worn a dress since that day you saw me at Princess Serenity's Presentation."

She was cracking. Michiru saw the tiniest give in Haruka's armor, and she used every ounce of charm she could muster, hoping to force the blonde to surrender. "You were quite lovely that day. You are a beautiful woman, Haruka, despite the masculine clothes you choose to hide behind. I'd like to see that, just once."

Haruka glanced down at her armor and sighed. "Will anyone else see me?"

"No one except me, my Ruka. I promise." Michiru held out her arm, offering the navy-blue dress to her partner, teal eyes hopeful. Haruka reluctantly took the dress and held it up, mildly surprised that it seemed to be long enough to fall to her feet. "It'll look wonderful on you."

Sighing, Haruka gave in. As she stripped out of her armor, she marveled at the fact that this aqua-haired woman she had only met again two weeks earlier could control her so easily. The biggest surprise for the free-spirited woman was how much she desired Michiru's control. As soon as her armor was piled haphazardly on the floor, Haruka reached up to remove the bindings from her breasts, Michiru's hands reaching out to help her. "Do I have to wear anything under this . . . _dress_?"

Michiru nodded and grabbed a slip off a nearby chair, helping Haruka into the sheer sheath of fabric. The blonde raised her arms as Michiru slid the blue satin dress over Haruka's head, pulling it down until it fell to the Uranian's feet. Haruka glared at the dark fabric hugging her curves and brushing her toes, pulling at the slender straps lying across her shoulders. "It's too tight."

"It's perfect," Michiru whispered, her eyes shining in the morning light streaming in the window. "You look perfect. Let's find you some high heels."

"Heels?!"

"You wear heels as Sailor Uranus," Michiru argued, already turning to her closet.

"Heeled _boots_ ," Haruka replied, crossing her arms over her chest. "Will you wear high heels as Sailor Neptune?"

"Every Neptune before me has. This _is_ the planet of femininity, and what's more feminine than heels?"

"In that case, I certainly don't want to wear them." Michiru turned to her partner and smiled, giggling at Haruka's belief that she had a choice.

* * *

"These hallways are always empty. Mother does not believe in keeping staff in the unused portions of the palace."

"Why is it unused?"

"You'll see." Michiru led Haruka through a maze of dimly-lit hallways, amused by the sound of her partner trying desperately to walk in heels without hurting herself, finally stopping in front of an unmarked door. Touching a button beside the door, Michiru led Haruka inside, waving one hand at the glowing raised circle that took up most of the small chamber.

"A transporter," Haruka breathed, following Michiru onto the platform. "Where does it go? The one on the Moon has a single destination."

"As does this one. It goes to the retreat where my mother and yours met in secret for years. After Kazeko died, my mother sealed off this wing of the palace, but I decided to claim her retreat for myself."

"How do you know?"

Michiru shrugged as she tapped a command into the console at the edge of the platform. "My lessons are simple and rarely keep my attention. I did some research once I was old enough to understand why my mother visits Uranus every year."

The transporter room faded, dropping the pair into the center of a huge chamber, intricate patterns covering the floor. The walls and ceiling were crafted from translucent blue crystals, but Haruka found her attention drawn to the full-sized piano occupying most of the room. A violin sat on a stand beside the piano, sheets of music covering a nearby table, a handful of chairs scattered nearby that did not seem to get used often. "Wow," Haruka breathed, slowly approaching the piano. "Do you play the piano?"

"No," Michiru whispered, walking over to the violin. "I play this. You told me when you were a child that you played the piano, so I found one for you."

Haruka sat down in front of the piano, adjusting her unfamiliar skirt before lifting the lid and running her long fingers over the keys. Michiru lifted her violin to her chin, teal eyes watching her partner examine her own instrument. "How long have you been waiting for me, Michiru?"

"Fourteen long years, my Ruka. Play something."

"What?"

"Anything. I'll join in with you."

Haruka closed her emerald eyes and began to play, pouring every ounce of her conflicted emotions into the melody. She heard Michiru's violin join her, their music merging perfectly in the crystal cathedral as their instruments sang everything they couldn't say. Haruka smiled as the pain of her childhood and adolescence was washed away by the melody she and Michiru wove together. She couldn't say it—she wasn't sure if she would ever be able to say it—but in that room, she was able to _show_ Michiru how she felt. The aqua-haired Neptunian princess opened her eyes, and Haruka could _see_ her own feelings mirrored there. She wasn't a Venusian who could detect her soul mate with a touch and she wasn't a Martian full of fire and passion, but she knew that she loved Michiru and that her siren loved her back.

In that moment, alone in a crystal cathedral on Larissa, the two princesses forgot about their mission, their parents, their senshi powers and partners, and the coming battles. For just a moment, they were just two women in love.

* * *

Haruka stared at herself in the full-length mirror, running a hand across the blue satin hugging her hips. It was almost the same color as the navy from her senshi uniform, but a few shades lighter and quite a bit shinier. "It's not bad, but it's not me."

"Once in a while, you should let the woman inside you come out."

Haruka turned her head to the side, watching her princess slip out of her dress. They had eaten their dinner in Michiru's room since the Neptunian was unwilling to let her blonde back into a suit and the Uranian would never wear her dress even in front of servants. Night had fallen once more, and only soft artificial lights caressed Michiru's naked skin as she selected a sheer nightgown and slipped it over her head.

Taking that as her cue, Haruka unhooked the straps from her shoulders, letting the blue satin pool at her feet as she stepped out of her borrowed dress and searched for her own significantly more opaque night clothes. As soon as they were both mostly clothed, Michiru stepped forward and wrapped her arms around Haruka's waist, the blonde automatically embracing the smaller woman. "What?"

"Stay with me tonight." The blonde stiffened and the younger princess chuckled at her reaction. "Not like that. But I had a vision last night, and it was almost too much for me to endure. If I have one tonight, I want you to be there and hold me. When you hold me, I feel safe."

"You are safe," Haruka murmured, resting her chin on Michiru's head. "You will always be safe with me. I'll stay with you tonight."

* * *

Haruka pushed herself up on one elbow, intense emerald eyes watching Michiru sleep. The princess was even graceful when she slept, both hands tucked under her chin, her whole body curled trustingly toward Haruka. While the blonde watched, Michiru's eyebrows furrowed, her fists clenching in the pillow. Without any other warning, Michiru's eyes shot open, completely sapphire in the dim light, and Haruka found herself drowning in her partner's vision.

_Darkness spreading across the Solar System, engulfing every planet and leaving behind nothing but death. Screams filling the empty air. The Moon covered in ruins, bodies everywhere, some of them senshi. They have failed in their duty. The Queen is dead, the princess is dead, and there is nothing left of the Silver Millennium. The darkness reaches for the Earth, but a brilliant golden light drives it back, protecting that one last planet of hope. The silver light of the ginzuishou cleanses the Moon, followed by the vibrant purple light of a scythe that buries the ruins and decimates the darkness gripping the other planets. The bodies are gone, the souls released to be reborn, and Time screams into the emptiness._

"Do you see?" Michiru whispered as she buried her fists in Haruka's shirt, the light in her eyes flickering. "We have to stop the darkness, we have to keep that scythe from falling, but if we cannot do that, we must find that golden light. Everything depends on it." As she breathed the last word, her eyes rolled back into her head and she fell back against the pillows, limp.

"MICHIRU!"

* * *

"I'm sorry, Sir, but she's in a coma. There's no physiological reason for her malady, but I cannot wake her."

Her fists clenched in the hopeless realization that there was nothing else she could do, Haruka stared at the pale woman on the hospital bed, a flock of white-robed medics with their machines tending the princess's every need. As she watched Michiru struggle for every breath, despite the tubes under her nose giving her oxygen, Haruka knew that there was only one way to save her. "The Mourning of Kazeko has only just finished, so Queen Shousha should still be on Oberon. Have a message sent to her."

"What should the message say?"

"Five words: _return immediately; Michiru is dying_."


	12. My Deep Sea

**Chapter 12: My Deep Sea**

* * *

_February 11, 8983-February 12, 8983_

* * *

Darkness swirled around the wary golden-haired goddess and her dark companion, mist gathered at their feet as Setsuna walked along a path only she could see. "I see why you don't come here much," Aphrodite whispered, keeping one hand on the queen's free arm. "How far do we have to go to see this time disturbance?"

"We're only tracing a small part," Setsuna offered in lieu of an actual answer, using the garnet light from her orb to reveal the path before them. It was invisible to all but her; even the other gods could not navigate time safely unless they were at her side. "Most of the threads I have identified, but somewhere in the center was an odd silver/gold spot that did not match anyone or anything I know. We're trying to find the source of that."

"Seems very vague."

Setsuna shrugged, waving her Time Key through the mists rising around the pair. "Well, Time Walking is not an exact science. This power that I inherited from my divine father is uncontrollable and incredibly unpredictable. Wait, I sense something." A pinprick of light appeared before the pair, Setsuna reaching out to touch it with her Garnet Orb. A shriek of silver surrounded the two and _pulled_ them forcefully from the Time Stream, through the mists, and into a beautiful garden surrounded by tall silvery white pillars.

"I was wondering when you would come."

The two women looked up at the voice, surprised to find someone waiting for them in this oddly peaceful garden. The pale, silver-haired man was taller than Aphrodite but shorter than Setsuna, his glowing golden eyes regarding the pair warmly. His white robes were simple, reminding Setsuna of a priest's garments, and he seemed to _belong_ in the garden. "Who are you?"

"Ah, I see, you have not met me yet. You are from the Silver Millennium?" Setsuna nodded. "How old is Uranus Haruka right now?"

Surprised by the sudden turn in the conversation, Setsuna was still able to provide the answer instantly. Sometimes she enjoyed having a perfect memory. "She just turned twenty-one. Why?"

"It's easiest to measure your timeline by her age. I know when you are from, and you have not met me yet, but the time is coming. Welcome to Elysion, Se, daughter of Hades, and Aphrodite, Goddess of Love."

"Who are you?"

The man bowed, waving one hand to encompass the entire garden. "I am Helios, the Pegasus guardian of this place and the Golden Crystal of Earth. Right now, you are over nine hundred years in your past. This area is not a physical part of Earth, though without this sanctuary and the crystal, the Earth would not exist."

"Where are you from? I found you in the center of a time disturbance that I have been trying to unravel, and I need to know if you can help me." Setsuna could see the power radiating off the man, enough power to make him a senshi if he had been a woman. She had never seen a mortal male so powerful before, but something told her that he was an immortal, like herself, if not quite a god.

"I cannot. No one can. You, Se, are the only one who can solve this riddle. You will make many wrong guesses, but on the final day you will help to save everything. Just trust your instincts and your heart, Queen of Pluto."

Setsuna narrowed her garnet eyes. "I distrust someone who seems to know more about the future than I do. It is _my_ domain."

Helios nodded, the red gem in the center of his forehead catching the light from the noon sun. "I know. But you taught me how to read the time streams when I was a child, and you told me everything that happened at your current point in time. I'm still there, on your Earth, and as long as the Earth remains a place of hope and dreams, I will be there to protect the peace. I am a tiny part of your time disturbance and you will not understand until the end, but everything will turn out for the best."

"How can you be sure? Helios, everything is falling apart." She did not know why she trusted the Pegasus, but if he had knowledge of the future she needed it.

"Everything is falling together," the oddly powerful man countered. "You just need to trust that everything will be alright in the end. You should go now; there are no answers for you here. I will see you soon."

Setsuna waved her staff to open the Time Gate again, both intrigued and confused by this strange boy who seemed much older than his appearance would suggest. Aphrodite placed her hand on Setsuna's arm as they both stepped back into the Time Stream.

"The Cupids are stirring," Helios called as the Time Gate shut, his last words echoing through the mists. Setsuna couldn't tell if the words were supposed to be a comfort to her, or a desperate warning.

* * *

Shousha ran a weary hand through her hair, struggling to tame the wavy, multi-hued mass as she relaxed on the plush couch in her suite. She and Koshu hated each other, but as a visiting queen she demanded suitable accommodations, servants, and guards, which the Uranian King was honor-bound to provide. The Mourning had ended the night before with a prayer song by the priests of the Umbriel Storm Temple, leaving Shousha in an oddly upbeat mood all day while she had supervised her servants as they packed her travel cases and arranged for her transport home. Oddly, for the first time in twenty years, Koshu had not been present during the two week Mourning event, leaving the blue-haired queen to offer her prayers to Kazeko in peace.

A sharp knock on the door shook Shousha free of her thoughts, the queen rising before calling for her visitor to enter. A young servant entered the chamber, eyes on the floor as she offered a data crystal to the visiting queen. "What is this?"

"A message from Neptune, Your Majesty."

"From whom?"

"There was no encoded signature, but the transit stamp indicates that it originated within your palace."

Shousha shrugged and took the crystal, dismissing the servants as she dropped the crystal into the nearest data reader. The seal of Triton Castle flashed in the air, followed by five simple words, no audio or signature.

_Return immediately; Michiru is dying._

A wave of ice-cold shock spread from her heart through her body, the queen staring at the Neptune henshin stick that had suddenly appeared in her hand. Michiru, dying? It hardly seemed plausible, but Setsuna had warned her to pass on the Sailor Neptune powers. Had she waited too long? If she waited for a ship to transport her back to her planet, her only child would be dead long before she arrived. As the thought filled her mind, power she barely remembered flowed through her, the queen transforming into Sailor Neptune for the first time since the day her lover died. An instant later, she was gone.

* * *

Tranquility twirled the goblet between his fingers absently, staring at his reflection in the facets of the gems along the edge. "Continue with your report."

"Most of the Alpha group has met her, and she has a great deal of power for an Earthling. She has as much devotion to Serenity as any young Cupid, and she has been able to see the Grail in her dreams. Not many of our recruits could say that." The Cupid glanced at his data pad, skimming the information, though he was already familiar with the details of his report. "She is the clan chieftain of a large island near the capital city of Earth, and she claims some distant relation with the Earth King's wife. The archipelago where the Earth King lives is comprised of some six thousand islands, though only four are of any noticeable size, and fewer than five hundred are inhabited. The recruit's family rules the northernmost large one and its nearest tiny neighbors, though most of them are too cold to have many inhabitants. She calls herself queen, though I believe that it is a self-styled title used by some of these rougher primitive Earth tribes. She offers her people into your service, as well, though I would recommend that they be considered for their supplicant and proselytizing abilities only. None of them showed any real promise."

The young god nodded, turning his attention to the group of Cupids arrayed before him. "Well, I am always willing to accept new priestesses. Install her in the Temple on Earth on the outskirts of the Earth King's capital city and let her lead the daily prayers. If she is strong, promote her to Cupid. I will judge her after that and decide if she is worthy of a seat on the Council. Your suggestion for her people is sound, so instruct them to build a new temple on their snowy main island as a test of their devotion.

"In the meantime, we will be redistributing the main Cupid core to help Queen Setsuna of Pluto determine the source of a newly developed time disturbance. The Tau, Upsilon, Phi, Chi, and Psi groups will travel to Pluto at once and place themselves under the direct supervision of the Queen. I imagine she will have you help her monitor the time streams. Omicron, Pi, and Rho groups head for Uranus; Mu, Nu, and Xi to Neptune; Iota, Kappa, and Lambda to Saturn. There may be some disturbances there already, so make sure you get a solid baseline before you start searching for disturbances. Eta and Theta to Jupiter, Epsilon and Zeta to Mars, Gamma to Mercury and Delta to Venus. As pacifistic as the two inner planets have always been, I don't expect much in your reports. Alpha group you will return to Earth and monitor the situation there. Observe our new priestess, too, and give her any assistance she requires. Beta group, stay here on the Moon. I'll need you to gather all reports from the other groups and send me anything that will require my further attention."

The Leader of Beta Group stepped forward, bowing briefly before speaking. "Where will you be, My Lord?"

"I will take the Omega group to Olympus and confer with the gods." The leader of the Omega group displayed no emotion at the announcement. He was a perfect example of an evolved Cupid, every ounce of his energy given to finding Serenity. Omega group was filled with the elite Cupids, and only they had ever been allowed on Olympus. Being assigned to Omega group had long been seen as the fastest track to a coveted Cupid Council position, and certainly all Council members had either been Group Leaders or members of the Omega team. "You all have your assignments."

The Cupid Leaders raised their wings and vanished, each of them headed back to their own barracks to gather their troops. Nodding in approval, Tranquility also vanished. He enjoyed stirring his Cupids for a great mission like the one Se had given him.

* * *

Michiru had been moved back into her room after the medics stabilized her condition. There was nothing they could do in the hospital wing, so they decided to make her as comfortable as possible. Haruka sat in a chair beside the princess's bed, Michiru's hand held in hers, emerald eyes never leaving the Neptunian's pale face. She had risked her own life to see that vision, but if she died how would Haruka find the strength to keep it from coming to pass? Without Michiru . . . why would she want to live? The servants had pestered her at first, wary of this nobleman from Uranus staying in their princess's chambers, but a single glare from Haruka had silenced them. One of Michiru's loyal servants, a girl by the name of Nakiko, brought Haruka tea and food, forcing the blonde to eat and keep up her strength. Haruka was grateful for the concern, but as the night faded into day and then night again, she despaired of ever seeing Michiru wake.

A sudden commotion outside Michiru's chamber caught Haruka's attention, the blonde raising her head as the Queen of Neptune burst into the room, wild teal eyes settling on her pale daughter. "What happened?"

Haruka had not realized until that exact second how angry she was at the blue-haired queen. Aside from insulting her as a child and taking Michiru away, Shousha's pride and selfishness had forced her daughter to suffer through headaches, seizures, and a coma because of visions her mother was too weak to see. Haruka pushed herself to her feet, emerald eyes blazing with a uniquely Uranian fury, fists clenched at her sides. "You dare ask that question? You knew that your link to the Neptune henshin stick was fading, but you refused to pass it on to Michiru and let her take her rightful place among the Sailor Senshi. You've kept her locked up here for her entire life, keeping her from people who would be her friends and partners on the other planets, and look what that has done to her. She has been seeing a vision of destruction over and over again, and without the Mirror it has put her into a coma!"

"Don't you dare raise your voice to me! Who are you to judge how I raised my child or when I chose to pass on my powers?" A true queen, Shousha pulled herself to her full height, though her posturing was wasted on Haruka, especially since she wasn't any taller than the princess. The blonde was dangerously close to the rage she had experienced on the Moon, but without the calming influence of Princess Serenity to save her.

"I'm someone who cares about your daughter more than you apparently do! Your pride and selfishness are killing her!"

Shousha ran over to Michiru's side, taking one of her daughter's cool hands in hers. The queen was gone, replaced by a concerned mother, the scene beginning to calm Haruka's fury. She didn't have the strength left to hate Shousha, any more than Shousha had the strength to fight her while the only person either of them cared about was slowly dying. "Oh Michiru, I never meant for this to happen."

"What does it matter if you meant it or not? She's dying because of you!" Haruka closed her eyes, forcing back her tears as she quieted her voice. She returned to her chair and took Michiru's free hand in hers, turning her face to the dying princess. Drained, she was barely able to whisper her next question, though the words cut Shousha more than the Uranian could imagine. "Is it worth it, losing her to keep your powers?"

Shousha's head shot up as she turned her fear and anger on the Uranian once more. "How do I know it wasn't something _you_ did? I come home to find my daughter in a coma and a strange man in her room. Who are you?"

Haruka leaned across the bed, her face inches from Shousha's, one hand still holding Michiru's and the other tangled in the sheets in a desperate attempt to keep her from punching the Neptunian Queen. Her emerald eyes had darkened nearly to black and her voice was accusatory when she finally spoke. "Who am I? _I_ am the person who has been _here_ , holding her while she suffered headaches and seizures because she was trying to force a vision so she could save the Silver Millennium. You've been off mourning your lost love while your daughter has been dying."

"How was I supposed to know that it was this bad? She never said anything." Shousha had moved past the anger and blame; her defensiveness was just the final step before desperation. Either her worry for her daughter would force her to do something drastic or she would give into despair and watch Michiru die. Haruka hoped that she could push the queen toward the former, but without proper knowledge of the Neptunian's mind, it would be very difficult to force Shousha to see the truth.

"She told you that the sea was stormy," Haruka whispered, falling back into her seat beside the bed. She ran her fingers through Michiru's aqua hair, wishing that her partner would just wake up. "You should have known what that meant."

Shousha held out her free hand and watched as the Neptune henshin stick appeared in her palm, obedient for the first time in decades. "You know, it let me transform to come here in time." Desperation. She had finally reached the tipping point. Haruka knew that, of all the queens, Shousha was the one least likely to ever see her daughter as worthy of the henshin stick, but perhaps knowing that only the powers of Neptune could save Michiru would be enough.

"What do I care," Haruka growled, fingers dancing across Michiru's forehead. She had to feign ignorance of the powers of the henshin sticks and their planets, no matter how hard it was not to yell at the older woman for hesitating even now.

"I think it wants to save her."

"It's a henshin stick. It doesn't have wants." Haruka was tired of this conversation, tired of the queen who loved her mother and hated her guts, tired of sharing Michiru. She was too drained to even summon the fury that had sustained her since Shousha entered the room, and all she wanted was to be left alone with her dying partner. She could feel Michiru's heart faltering, and it was clear that they were out of time. If Shousha would not hand over the powers of Sailor Neptune willingly, there was no hope.

"The henshin stick is an extension of the planet's life force. You could never understand, but it decided to let me transform and come back to her."

Haruka closed her eyes and rested her head on Michiru's breast, listening to her siren's failing heartbeat. She could feel the Uranus henshin stick in her pocket begin to pulse gently, whispering to her, power tingling against her hip. She sensed Shousha move and she glanced up, her emerald eyes dull. The queen, her teal eyes hopeful, pried Michiru's hand open and placed her henshin stick on the princess's palm. Michiru's fingers slowly curled over the stick, but there was no other response. Haruka's henshin stick began to pulse faster, power flowing through her body and reaching for Michiru. Curious, Haruka pulled Michiru's hand to her heart, trying to funnel the power from her henshin stick into her partner's still form. Unlike every other time she had used her powers, there was no golden glow, even though Uranus was almost screaming in her mind. It did not want to lose its partner.

Haruka watched, breathless, as the Neptune henshin stick began to respond to Uranus's call. Michiru's fingers slowly tightened around the slender rod, aqua power gathering around her hand. A flash of aqua light filled the room, fading to reveal Sailor Neptune sitting up in the bed, one gloved hand held to her forehead and the other still holding Haruka's in a death grip. "Ruka," she whispered, tears in her eyes as the blonde half-stood and embraced her, both of them unable to speak.

Shousha cleared her throat, ending the reunion as Michiru reluctantly pulled out of Haruka's arms. Her teal eyes searched her partner's dark green for an explanation, and Haruka nodded at her uniform. "You transformed. I guess it broke your coma."

Sailor Neptune glanced over her shoulder at her mother, something preventing her from wanting to embrace the queen. "Thank you," she managed. "How did you know?"

Shousha nodded at Haruka. "Your suitor here sent me a message. I'm not sure how you knew to find me on Oberon, however. I'm also not sure when you and he became so close, since I have never met him before." With the disaster averted, Shousha wasted no time berating her daughter for her choice in companions. Haruka wondered if the blue-haired queen had always been so harsh and unfeeling toward her daughter.

"Ruka's been keeping me company while you were gone. I've learned a great deal about fighting and controlling my power from him." At the deliberate masculine pronoun, Haruka tightened her grip on the slender princess, wondering why she was intentionally lying to the queen about her partner's gender. Michiru's voice was sharper and more commanding than when she spoke to Haruka, and there was a cold undertone reserved only for her mother. Why was the princess of Neptune keeping her mother distant?

Shousha stood from her chair, her own demeanor decidedly less open. "When you are feeling better, I will see both of you in my throne room. And I expect you to introduce your suitor properly." Without waiting for a response, the queen spun on one heel and left, the guards at the door following her.

Haruka finally released Michiru after the door closed, holding her hand to satisfy her protective instincts. "I thought you were going to die. You forced that vision."

"I had to. I'm sorry that I worried you. But I knew that I would be safe since you were here watching over me." Michiru smiled apologetically, letting her transformation fade as Haruka sat down beside her on the bed.

Haruka tilted her head to one side, suddenly understanding her new partner's plans. "You did it on purpose. You knew that something would happen if you saw the full vision, and you were hoping that it would be something bad enough that your mother would have to come home and give you the henshin stick."

"This was the only way I could think of to get my powers. I need them to be able to fight with you and protect the Silver Millennium."

Haruka cupped Michiru's cheek in one hand, emerald eyes full of pain. "Don't scare me like that again, Michi. I don't know what I'd do if you left me."

"You'll never have to worry about that."

* * *

"What does she want with us, anyway?"

"I'm not sure, Ruka."

Michiru held an aqua-colored mirror up and stared at her reflection, frowning as she fixed one of the loose curls framing her face. Her servants had spent over an hour fixing her hair and makeup, determined that she would be presentable when she presented herself to the queen. Haruka tugged absently at the bottom of her jacket, freezing as she identified the mirror Michiru was staring into.

"Are you using your talisman to check your hair?"

"I saw you use your sword to cut flowers for me this morning." Michiru's deflection was a clear admission of guilt, though Haruka knew that she would never admit to using her senshi powers for trivial tasks.

Haruka chuckled and ran her fingers through her hair. "I haven't used it to fight in a while. I wanted to test its edge. It was a little dull."

"Are you blaming your sword?" Michiru's eyes danced as she teased the blonde, lowering her mirror as she smiled flirtatiously. Despite her near-death experience, the Neptunian was as spirited as ever.

"I don't think I've lost my edge," Haruka replied cockily, almost making herself blush as she flirted back for the first time in weeks. She had been trying to keep herself from growing too close to the aqua-haired beauty, but after Michiru came out of her coma, Haruka could barely hold herself back.

From the sparkle in Michiru's blue-tinted teal eyes, the slender princess felt the same way. "Do you want to test that?"

Haruka nodded toward the main chamber of Michiru's suite and the servants they could just hear through the not-quite-closed doors. "Maybe later when we're alone. We have to go meet your mother now." Haruka reached out and took Michiru's hand, kissing it and watching her partner blush. Struggling to control her own reaction to the mental images she was conjuring up, the blonde led her partner out of the bedroom.

Four of Shousha's guards met them at the door to Michiru's chamber, all of them mostly recovered from the injuries they received they received fighting the princesses of Uranus and Neptune. The Jovian and Martian bowed to Michiru respectfully while the Uranian winked at Haruka, the wiry Neptunian glaring at both of them. The four guards moved into flanking position and the group headed for the throne room, Haruka never releasing Michiru's hand.

Neptunians were a people of elegance, always insisting on elaborate and highly complex ceremonies for even the simplest of events. Four servants flanked the two huge doors leading to the throne room, pulling them open and bowing as the princess and her blonde partner entered the huge chamber. Haruka had only a moment to admire the sea-colored windows and dark blue marble floor before the sound of trumpets filled the hall. Her grip on Michiru's hand tightened as she recoiled from the pageantry, but Michiru looked up at her and smiled, silently asking her to endure the torture for just a moment.

Shousha sat in a splendid throne alone at the top of her dais, her silvery blue dress far fancier than Haruka would have expected for a simple conversation between a mother and daughter. The great hall was empty of fawning nobles or alert guards, only the light of a false sun to keep the trio company. Haruka and Michiru stopped at the stairs leading to the throne, the Neptunian dropping into a shallow but perfect curtsy, her partner offering the queen a modest bow.

"How are you feeling today, Michiru?"

"Much better, Mother. How was your trip?" Michiru's voice was light, but there was a sharpness as she asked her question that shocked Haruka. How could her gentle Michiru be so cruel when speaking of Shousha's trip to mourn her lost lover? She glanced at the aqua-haired princess, surprised to see that Michiru was troubled by how she had spoken, even though her words and tone had been deliberately chosen. She did not want to push her mother away, but she felt like she needed to create a distance between them.

Shousha stiffened at the question, her teal eyes hardening. Whatever small amount of warmth she had shown her daughter after her near-death experience was gone, leaving a cold and bitter queen alone on her throne. The Space Sword on Haruka's hip whined in her mind, reminding the blonde that her mother's spirit was watching the interaction through her daughter's eyes. She wanted nothing more than to be with Shousha, but Haruka did not have enough power to free her mother from the Sword. "I don't recall you asking me for permission to entertain a suitor."

"I don't recall needing your permission to have a friend," Michiru replied sharply, releasing Haruka's hand and crossing her arms defiantly over her chest. "I never said anything about a suitor."

Shousha stood from her throne, her calculating smile worrying Haruka. "You didn't see the way your blonde _friend_ looked at you while you were in a coma. No one in almost six decades has raised their voice to me without fearing the consequences. This Uranian noble cares about you enough to risk my wrath, to even tell me that I was wrong not to give you the stick and the mirror earlier. No one except Pluto Setsuna has dared to say that to me. If it had been anyone else who spoke to me like he did, I would have ordered him deported, or flogged, or both. However, I cannot do that to the person who loves you enough to summon me home in time to save you."

"Loves me?" Michiru turned to Haruka, her teal eyes demanding an answer from the flighty blonde. Haruka fidgeted uncertainly, reaching out to take the princess's hand in her own. She hadn't meant for her feelings to become a topic of conversation in the throne room, but she had to admit that her actions had given her away to Shousha the night before.

Her conversation with Serenity after they returned from Earth filled her mind as she tried to decide how to answer. "In my language, there is no word that even comes close to approximating the feeling you call love," she murmured, reaching up to run her fingers through Michiru's hair. "I don't have the ability in any language to put into words the feelings I have for you."

"You don't have to say anything," Michiru whispered, closing her eyes briefly as she enjoyed Haruka's gentle touch. "I understand."

"Then it's decided." Michiru and Haruka turned back to Shousha, neither of them understanding the queen. Shousha waved one hand at Haruka, impatience in the action. "Before I tell you both what I have decided, I suppose I should allow your suitor to formally introduce himself."

Haruka gave herself a moment to decide what answer to offer, something in Michiru's stance warning her to pick a man's name and a proper rank for herself, instead of using the High Duke of Umbriel introduction she had concocted on Mars. "I am Rukaze, son of Fourth War Queen Ono Hikari, and I hold the title Kazemaru."

"Impressive. Ono Hikari has seven sons, so I imagine that you are unlikely to inherit much of anything from your mother's estate." Haruka was lucky that Shousha only knew the size of Hikari's brood and not the members, though she was counting on the fact that few outside of the Uranian nobility would bother to learn the names of so many lightly-titled men. Of all the War Queens, Hikari had been the most prolific.

Haruka shrugged. "At this rate, I think I could agree with that statement." Until Koshu recognized his rebellious daughter as the rightful Queen of Uranus, Kazeko's "estate" would never pass to her.

"Fine, then in recognition of your bravery and the feelings you have for my daughter, I offer you my estate."

"What?"

"Marry my daughter." Ah. That was quite a bit more clear.

Haruka stared at the queen, completely at a loss for words. Michiru stepped forward, one hand held out toward her mother in something that approximated supplication. "I don't think you understand what you're saying."

"I understand completely, Michiru. Seventy-six suitors have come to this palace and asked for your hand in marriage. Twelve of them were even visiting nobles from other worlds, but you have never shown even an ounce of interest in any of the men who stood before you or in the letters written by the ones I would not allow to meet you in person. I had considered lifting the ban I have on off-world nobles meeting you, but clearly you have somehow solved that problem for me. I have been gone for only two weeks, but you have managed to fall in love in so short a time. You're going to be twenty-one in just over three weeks, and I did tell you that you had to choose a husband by then."

"Yes, Mother, but I don't think that Ruka—"

"Well I do think that this is the right choice. You may be Sailor Neptune now, but I am still Queen of this world and I expect you to obey me."

Michiru turned to Haruka, her eyes full of desperation. She knew as well as the blonde that marriage between two high noble women was forbidden throughout the Silver Millennium. They couldn't get married, but if they told Shousha the reason why, she would banish Haruka from Neptune forever.

Haruka nodded at her partner, her mind devising a plan as soon as the shock of Shousha's demand had faded. "If you insist on forcing our hand, we will obey. But as a Uranian I insist that Michiru return to my home on Oberon so that a priest of the Silent Wind Temple can bind us." Uranians did not value marriage the same way the other worlds did, and few commoners ever bothered with the practice. All noble women and heavily-titled commoners chose husbands, and most of them were married in private by a priest of the Silent Wind Temple, usually with fewer than three guests in attendance. From Haruka's words, Shousha could tell that she would not be one of the few invited guests.

"I would prefer that Michiru's wedding be held here, on Triton."

"Prefer what you will, but no Uranian with any rank or title can respect a marriage carried out by a foreign priest. It might be your decree, but it will be my world, my priest, and my privacy."

Shousha glared at the blonde from her high perch, Haruka's emerald eyes determined. After a few silent moments, Shousha relented, sighing as she looked away. "You remind me of a Uranian I once knew. I had forgotten how stubborn your people can be. Fine, have your wedding on Oberon. I'll probably be on Titan by the time you return, so I will not see you again until Michiru's birthday. I expect to see your marriage certificate on that day."

Haruka bowed her head in acceptance of the terms, taking Michiru's hand and leading the aqua-haired princess out of the throne room. The four guards flanked them again, leading the silent pair back to Michiru's chambers, the Neptunian returning to his other duties once they arrived. The Jovian and Martian took positions outside the chambers, on either side of the door, while the Uranian guard entered the chamber first and checked it for dangers before leading the princesses inside.

Michiru sighed and collapsed on her couch, one arm covering her eyes as she struggled to digest the conversation from the throne room. Haruka crossed her arms over her chest as the Uranian guard watched her, the wiry woman's golden eyes full of wonder. "What?"

The guard dropped to one knee, head bowed. "I just wanted to say what an honor it was to fight you, Your Highness."

"How did you know?"

"I thought I recognized you when we sparred days ago, but I wasn't sure until I read the recent reports from Oberon and realized you were missing."

"Who are you?"

"I am Miki, the youngest daughter of Fourth War Queen Ono Hikari."

Haruka chuckled as she loosened her formal jacket and tossed it at a nearby chair. "How interesting. I just used your mother as an alibi to Queen Shousha. Hikari has no love for the Queen of Neptune, especially since she used to be a key advisor to my mother."

"Mother says that all of the War Queens attended your birth, but only she was allowed to speak with Queen Kazeko that day. Whatever plan you have that requires my mother's support, she will be with you every step of the way."

Haruka pulled the smaller Uranian to her feet, taking a seat on the couch beside Michiru and offering her arm to the troubled Neptunian. "It's nice to know that at least one person who attended my birth does not blame me for the death of my mother." The young guard opened her mouth to protest, freezing when Haruka waved her hand. "Don't worry, I don't blame myself. I know that my mother chose to give me all of her strength because something is coming that she could not fight. Miki, send a message to your mother. Tell Hikari that her youngest son Rukaze is coming home from Neptune and needs some advice." Miki bowed and turned to leave, closing the door behind her.

Michiru relaxed as soon as she and Haruka were alone, but her eyes were still full of dread. "Why did you agree to this, Ruka?"

"How could I not agree? If I had told her the truth, she would have thrown me off this world and I would never see you again."

"But you know the Ancient Law as well as I do."

Haruka nodded, pushing herself off the couch and walking to the balcony overlooking Michiru's private beach. She sensed the Neptunian leave the couch and move to her side. " _The galaxy will be consumed by Time and the Moon will fall to the Earth in a harvest of ruin when two planets combine,"_ Haruka murmured in Plutonian, making sure that her accent and inflection were perfect. "That word, _jahjku_ , is different than the word that literally means planet, _jajku_ , and the inflection most commonly refers to the senshi, but not us."

"No, it means the senshi as they were thousands of years ago when they had full access to their planetary power. We don't have that anymore."

"I know. Sailor Pluto ordered the other senshi to remove their keystones from their Planet Crystals after the Antares Uprising in order to prevent this prophecy of doom from coming to pass. Without those keystones, we are not _jahjku_ and we don't have to worry about the galaxy being consumed by Time."

"But?"

Haruka clenched her fists at Michiru's soft question, having hoped that the younger woman did not sense her trepidation, but Michiru could read her just as easily as she could read the Neptunian princess. "You saw Saturn's scythe in your vision. The harvest of ruin refers literally to Saturn's power of the harvest. She destroys everything to bring about a rebirth. And there is a Full Council on Titan in a week."

Haruka did not have to say anything else. Michiru knew the implications of having a meeting on Titan especially with the vision of destruction she had been seeing. "The other senshi, the ones you spent time with on the Moon, they want their full powers to stop the threat that is calling Sailor Saturn, don't they?"

"Yes. If we take our keystones, we could conceivably stop Saturn, but we would risk the fulfillment of the prophecy. At the very least, you and I could never be together again."

Michiru stepped in front of Haruka, taking the blonde senshi's hands in her own. "Ruka, we are warriors with a duty to protect the Silver Millennium from any threat. If we have to take our keystones in order to stop Saturn from awakening, then we will do that as warriors, and we will save the world."

"No matter the cost?"

Michiru smiled and kissed Haruka's palm, the gesture far more intimate than anything the blonde would ever allow from anyone else. "Before you arrived, I could have said that. But after being with you, and after seeing your heart, I cannot accept that fate. A world without you, Haruka, isn't one worth saving. If the price of saving this solar system is your life, I will pay it double and follow you to the other side." She raised Haruka's palm to her cheek and held it there. "Any other cost is manageable."

Haruka smiled, light from the artificial sunlight sparkling in the depths of her emerald eyes. She wrapped one arm around Michiru's slender waist and pulled the aqua-haired beauty against her chest, chuckling at her startled squeak. "Well, at least if we have a wedding, we will be entitled to a honeymoon night."

"I like the sound of that." Michiru rested her head on Haruka's shoulder, finally able to relax after the meeting with her mother. "How are you going to manage this wedding?"

"I'm not sure. But we'll figure something out."


	13. Rushing Wind

**Chapter 13: Rushing Wind**

* * *

_February 12, 8983_

* * *

There was no such thing as a windless day on Oberon. Some unexplained combination of the atmospheric generators and the gravity of the serene gas giant the moon orbited kept the wind moving constantly. It was no surprise to anyone that the power of Uranus was wind, nor that the warriors of Uranus were always adept at fighting in rough conditions that kept others indoors.

Ono Hikari, the Fourth War Queen, contemplated that as she stared across the verdant expanse of her estates, a message in one hand and a cool drink in the other. Her youngest daughter had left Oberon more than two years earlier to apply for a post in the Neptune Guard so that she might obtain enough titles to earn a decent husband. Miki had risen through the ranks quickly, as was expected when a Uranian warrior entered a pacifist militia, and had been promoted to Shousha's personal guard, having won the war titles she had desired. Despite her own feelings toward the cold and bitter queen, Hikari knew that such a post was a testament to her daughter's strength. Now, two years after she had last met with her daughter face-to-face, the girl had sent her an encrypted and highly confusing message. _"Mother, I send my regards to you and to our Princess. Your youngest son Rukaze is returning home for a visit after a brief three week absence. He needs a kind ear and some sound advice when he arrives."_

What could the message mean? She had no son named Rukaze, so Miki must need her to help someone hide from the king, but who could it possibly be? And why would Miki send her regards to the princess when she knew, as well as every Uranian, that Haruka had vanished three weeks earlier?

Oh. "It can't be," Hikari whispered, golden eyes trained on the ground below her. Her daughter's private shuttle had landed in the main courtyard, away from the security measures clogging the main spaceport and away from anyone looking for the missing princess. As the first visitor exited the spacecraft, Hikari realized with the cold shock of sudden clarity whom Miki needed her to hide. The tall, confident blonde who appeared on the ramp of the shuttle wore a finely embroidered and very masculine suit colored in white, navy, and gold, but there was something decidedly feminine about her gait, her stance, and even the way she glanced around the garden. As soon as her elegant heeled boots touched the ground, she smiled, as if being on Oberon energized her. Only a senshi would react that way.

"Princess," Hikari breathed, only the balcony under her trembling hands supporting her. The blonde looked up at the faint word the wind carried to her ears, her emerald eyes meeting Hikari's golden ones across the garden, and she paused, a slow smirk spreading across her face. She turned slightly as a slender, aqua-haired beauty joined her on the ground, the smaller woman the epitome of elegant femininity. The blonde took her partner's hand and headed for the huge mansion, both of them moving in perfect sync, as if they had been partners for their entire lives. Hikari could easily recognize the second woman as a Neptunian of high breeding, but what was her princess doing traveling the system with one of them?

* * *

Haruka followed the nervous servant through the huge mansion, admiring the rich color of the carpets and the fine weapons on display along the walls. Beauty and strength were twin concepts on Uranus, even to the point where the words shared the same linguistic root, and Hikari had excellent taste. Michiru walked beside her, their steps in sync, but it was clear that the Neptunian's idea of fine art did not generally include ancient jewel-encrusted weapons. The servant stopped before an open door crafted from the finely grained wood of a golden ash tree, bowing low as the two princesses entered the War Queen's audience chamber.

Ono Hikari stood before the balcony overlooking the gardens, her dark brown hair falling just past her shoulders and her golden eyes showing nothing of her emotional turmoil. She was taller than Haruka, and her perfectly straight hair shone with golden highlights as she moved across the room, every step as graceful as the princess's. Her slender form embodied that perfect balance between masculinity and femininity that Uranians bred for; though she currently wore a dress, she could easily pass for a man if she had chosen a suit that morning. Michiru was beginning to understand that Haruka's androgyny was not a conscious choice, but rather a casual effect of her genetics that her Plutonian father could never understand. On planets like Neptune and Venus that valued beauty and grace, a woman was expected to always dress and act like a woman, but on the war planets Mars and Jupiter, women would often dress as men for expediency and to aid in their fighting prowess. Uranus seemed to be situated perfectly in the middle, where the women held all of the power and therefore were expected to fully embody both aspects, male and female. Ono Hikari tended just slightly toward the masculine, whereas Haruka had pushed herself much further.

The tall woman dropped to one knee when she reached the pair, joy in her golden eyes. "Princess, you have returned."

"Please, War Queen, rise. I am not here as your sovereign."

"It is enough that you are here." Hikari rose to her feet as if lifted by the wind, nothing in the action indicating a strain on any muscle. Michiru watched her, utterly entranced by her grace and wondering how she had not known how much her people had in common with the Uranians. "To what do I owe this great honor?"

Haruka glanced at Michiru, waiting for the princess to offer her curtsy before beginning her introductions. "This is High Princess Michiru of Neptune, current senshi of her world and future queen. As of yesterday, she is also my _ch'kuri_."

Hikari's eyes widened as she took a step toward the center of the chamber, gesturing for her guests to take seats on one of the many floor cushions. She joined them, running a hand through her hair in a gesture Michiru had seen Haruka use many times during her time on Neptune. "By whose orders?"

"Queen Shousha's."

The War Queen snorted, shaking her head. "The fool. She did not _see_ you."

"Most foreigners cannot _see_ us, not really. Even my own father would not understand. Be that as it may, I chose not to reveal myself to the queen."

"And so, the princess of another world is your _ch'kuri_ , and you must find a way to wed."

"I don't know this word," Michiru admitted, entering the conversation only reluctantly. It seemed that Haruka and Hikari were talking on a different level, using words and phrases that did not make sense even in Sol Standard. She had learned three of the most common Uranian dialects as a child, despite her mother's disapproval, but there were some dialects that off-worlders could never truly learn. This word that Haruka was using had to come from one of them, most likely Secret Umbrien, which was used for their most important ceremonies.

Hikari smiled at the princess, waving her hand as she tried to decide how to explain. "On your world, men and women are roughly equal in status, and thus arranged marriages are uncommon except at the highest ranks. Throughout most of the solar system this is true, though men are slightly higher on Jupiter and Mars except for the Queen. Here, we long ago subdued our men and trained ourselves to be great warrior women. We embody the concept of _sa'usikha_ or double-self. Each woman strives to balance her masculine and feminine halves to become a perfect person, making a male partner mostly unnecessary. Indeed, most woman with any rank here have harems consisting of both male and female partners, though noble women almost always take a permanent husband. Our current king does not approve of this practice, so we War Queens have tried to keep up the image of a simple monogamous marriage to appease him. In the case of a marriage, and with very few exceptions, the husband of a worthy noble is offered to her by the man's mother after the noble woman has received substantial titles and accomplishments, in a ceremony known as the _ch'kai'urh_. After the ceremony between the women, a brief interlude must pass before the wedding to ensure that the two are compatible, and during that time the male is referred to as the woman's _ch'kuri_. The closest translation in Sol Standard is probably _betrothed_."

"So, when Mother flat-out ordered me to marry Haruka, I became her _ch'kuri_." Michiru marveled at the odd culture on her partner's world, suddenly wondering what it was like for Haruka to know that her father hated the part of her that was the most Uranian.

Hikari nodded. "It is quite an honor to be the _ch'kuri_ of the princess. Unfortunately for the two of you, this marriage is illegal and can never happen."

"That's why we came to you."

"Long ago, your mother came to me for the same reason, but I told her then that there was no way around the law. She wanted to marry Shousha as much as you want Michiru, but no amount of love will see you through this. I can probably find you a priest that will perform the ceremony—well, I can definitely find you a priest—but there is no place free of the laws of the Silver Millennium for him to perform your wedding." She raised one eyebrow as she regarded the pair, remembering the note her daughter had sent her. "Why did you come to me?"

"When I was standing in the throne room and I had to formally introduce myself to Queen Shousha, I gave my pedigree as the youngest son of Fourth War Queen Ono Hikari. My mother's spirit has guided me more than once in these last few weeks, and it was certainly her guidance that led me here. She wanted me to come to you, and I guess she thinks that you have the answers I seek."

A servant slipped through the open door bearing a tray of snack and drinks, placing it carefully on the table between the floor cushions before bowing and leaving the trio in peace once more. Hikari gestured for her guests to refresh themselves as she took another glass of fruit juice for herself. "Princess, do you know why your mother's spirit would tell you to come to me and not to one of the other War Queens or diplomatic functionaries such as the members of the Duchess Council?" She asked the question as one who knew the answer, and Haruka was glad that someone could explain it to her, especially since Kazeko had not spoken to her since the Moon.

"Call me Haruka. And no, I have no idea. She didn't speak to me, just pushed."

"Well, let me explain. On all of the Moons of Uranus, you will not find a single woman more loyal to Kazeko—and, by extension, to you—than myself. Kazeko's mother, Queen Chisaki, had a younger sister named Yumi. She never aspired to be a great warrior or artist, content to let her title of Princess win her a husband. I am her only daughter, and I was never content to live by my mother's title. I grew up in the palace, but I was treated as an outsider by most of the nobles since my mother had no warrior name of her own. As a child, Kazeko befriended me and we trained to become warriors together, even though I was five years older than her. When the former Fourth War Queen died in that great battle on Pluto, I fought a dozen contenders for her title, winning it and finally finding an official position in your mother's court. Kazeko always turned to me first for advice, viewing me both as her older sister and as her most important tactical advisor. She was with me when I gave birth to Miki, already pregnant with you, and she told me that she would not survive the birth of her daughter. She said that if she lived, the Silver Millennium would be forever lost. I swore to her then that I would always protect and obey you, Haruka, and that I would love you as my princess even if the whole world blamed you for Kazeko's death."

"And is that why my mother would send me to you?"

"The whole system is looking for you, Haruka. Your father just flew off to Pluto to ask Queen Setsuna where you had gone. But I'm the one person on Uranus who would never betray you to King Koshu. If you want to tell him that you are here, you are welcome to do so, but I will not." Hikari pushed a plate of candied fruit toward Michiru, gesturing for the Neptunian to try the delicacy. "Speaking of your travels, how have they gone? Your mother returned to Uranus after only one week, but you have been gone far longer."

"I went to Mars and watched Princess Rei challenge her mother for her henshin stick. The princess of Venus, Minako, managed to force her first senshi transformation in the middle of the fight to save Rei from her mother's uncontrolled bloodlust, and Rei won the battle immediately after. Ares appeared to congratulate her."

"Oh, nice. He hasn't been seen in generations."

"Aphrodite appeared to Minako later. It was clear that Rei and Minako were lovers, so I followed them to the Moon to see how their relationship would develop. Makoto of Jupiter and Ami of Mercury arrived that night, after just receiving their own henshin sticks, and then I met the Princess."

Hikari nodded. "She's something else, isn't she? She is so young and so innocent, but she has this power beyond what a warrior can comprehend. She's going to be stronger than her mother, you know."

"I can see that. She asked me to train the senshi for a while, so I did, and I watched their relationships grow. Somehow, Princess Serenity could see through me, and she knew that I was in pain, that I had never known love." Michiru reached over and twined her fingers with Haruka's, offering the blonde her strength as her words faltered. "She said that to me and I snapped. I forced the senshi to fight me to rescue their princess, but she stopped me before my rage overwhelmed them. I've never seen anyone break a Uranian out of that state with words alone, but she has a great power. I hope she's alright, with only those four to protect her. I promised that I would keep taking her to see that prince of hers, but . . ." Haruka's emerald eyes widened as she trailed off, her grip on Michiru's hand tightening with her excitement. "I know where we can go."

"Where, Ruka?"

The blonde turned to her partner, a wild joy filling her eyes. "Michi, there is a place in this solar system that is not part of the Silver Millennium and does not have to obey most of its laws. From what I know of the implementation of the Ancient Laws, it would be exempt from their prohibition. I don't know why I didn't think of it before."

"Where?"

* * *

Setsuna stepped out of the Time Gate, staff in one hand and Aphrodite's fingers in her other. The Goddess of Love was afraid of the myriad streams of time Setsuna had led her through, unable to see the paths her cousin could follow easily, so she maintained contact with the blonde until they exited the Gate. The dark queen was surprised to see a large contingent of Cupids awaiting her exit, all of them standing silently along the walls of her throne room as if they had been waiting for days. "You've multiplied since the last time Tranquility sent me this type of gift."

Five of the Cupids stepped forward and bowed to the Queen of Pluto, each identically attired in loose, flowing white robes with silver quivers filled with golden arrows on their backs, a white bow hooked over each quiver. Each of them had a golden symbol on their forehead, the letters Tau, Upsilon, Phi, Chi, and Psi marking them as the leaders of their respective Cupid Groups. The Tau leader, a red-haired woman with pink eyes, smiled at the pair of goddesses as she gestured toward the gathered Cupids. "Lord Tranquility sent us here to help you unravel the Time Knot and monitor the time streams. We are yours to command, Goddess Se."

"I am not a goddess in this form. Call me Queen Setsuna but never call me Se."

"Of course; forgive my slip. There are Cupid groups assigned to every planet and we will pool our resources to help you save the Silver Millennium."

Setsuna raised Aphrodite's hand to her lips and kissed it gently, smiling at her longtime friend. "Thank you, Aph, for accompanying me to Elysion. I'm not sure what we learned, but I am glad that I did not have to travel alone."

"You aren't alone, Se. Your family and friends will always be here for you."

"I know. I just forget that sometimes, especially when I have been mortal for so long. Give my regards to Ares and my parents when you return to Olympus."

"I will." Aphrodite kissed Setsuna gently on the lips, tears in her eyes. "I wish I could heal your pain and your heart."

"My heart has a bad habit of choosing women I can never keep. Don't worry about me, Aph. Right now, I need to focus on this time knot." The golden-haired goddess vanished in a shower of rose petals, Setsuna scattering the soft pink disks as she walked toward the Cupid leaders. "Well if you're here to work, let's get to work."

* * *

Serenity stepped out of her chambers, smiling at the four women who greeted their blonde princess. Rei and Minako stood on one side of the door while Ami and Makoto stood on the other, all of them at full attention despite their elegant dresses and high heels. "Good morning, ladies."

"Good morning, princess," the four chorused, falling into step behind her as the girl headed for her mother's private dining chamber. They had adopted this routine the morning after Haruka vanished, protecting their princess as she performed her daily duties. While she was safely in her tutoring sessions or asleep, they trained and increased their powers as Haruka would have wanted them to. Though the senshi lacked a teacher, they were growing stronger daily, honing their skills for the battle Haruka warned them was coming.

The princesses entered the queen's dining chamber, all five of them dropping into a practiced curtsy before taking their chairs around the white table. Queen Serenity smiled as she gestured for the servants to bring breakfast, a small cat on either side of her. Rei watched the two royal advisors as they tore into the fish they were offered, Luna blacker than the night and Artemis whiter than the table he sat on. She had been told that they were from Mau, a planet far away that had allied itself with Sol millennia earlier, and that they had powers the senshi would probably never fully understand.

"How is your training going?"

"Well, Your Majesty," Minako replied in her capacity as Senshi Leader, poking at her eggs with a delicate fork. Rei could sense her partner's tension, but she could do nothing to ease it. The meeting on Titan was in only seven days, and they were not ready to fight a war against a darkness only Haruka had yet to see. "We have reached a level where fighting against each other no longer teaches us anything, so we have begun to practice combining our powers."

"Very good. Your mothers were never very successful at combining their powers until they were much older. The four of you are the strongest senshi in thousands of years, and I know my daughter is in good hands with you as her protectors."

Minako smiled as she returned to her food, even the princess silent this morning. Her soldiers were tired of making small talk with the queen and pretending that everything was fine when they were so worried about their missing companion. A sharp knock on the door to the chamber startled the women, all of them turning in their seats as the queen called for the servant to enter.

"Forgive the intrusion, Your Majesty, but a visitor is requesting an audience with Her Royal Highness Princess Serenity."

"Who?"

The servant shook his head, keeping his eyes on the floor. "He did not say, but he insisted that you would see him if I told you his rank."

"Then tell me," Serenity replied, blue eyes curious.

"Child of the High Duke of Umbriel."

Serenity gasped in shock, jumping up from her chair and dashing out the door faster than her guardians could even rise. Grinning uncontrollably, Minako apologized to the queen and excused her warriors, following the other three women chasing after Serenity. The queen watched them leave, confusion in her lavender eyes. Why were they all so eager to see that blonde Uranian?

* * *

"This won't take long." Michiru stood patiently by Haruka's side, the picture of calm, but something in her teal eyes betrayed her nervousness. Her partner wrapped a comforting arm around her shoulders, emerald eyes filled with understanding. "Don't worry, Michi; you're going to get along with them just fine."

"I hope so."

"Haruka!" The pair looked up as a blonde bundle of energy in a white dress ran across the courtyard almost faster than Haruka herself could have covered the distance. With a child-like squeal of joy, the blonde launched herself into Haruka's arms, giggling when the Uranian swung her through the air in a circle before setting her back on her feet.

"It looks like you missed me, Princess."

"She isn't the only one," an amused voice with a faint Venusian accent replied from the direction of the castle as four smiling women approached the princess and senshi. "Welcome back, Haruka."

Haruka released Serenity, smiling as she took Minako's hand and kissed it gently, repeating the gesture with the other three women. Rei watched the blonde curiously, her amethyst eyes flicking to Michiru curiously for a moment before returning to the tall Uranian. "You've changed. Because of her?"

"Typical Martian; cut through the pleasantries and go straight for the main event." Haruka's smile made it clear that her words were not an insult as she reached for Michiru's hand and pulled the Neptunian forward. "This is Michiru, High Princess and senshi of Neptune. She is also my _ch'kuri_."

Makoto's eyes widened in shock as Ami gasped, both of them understanding the word and the intent behind it. "How? How did you convince her mother to agree to that?"

"Ruka didn't convince Mother of anything," Michiru replied softly. "Mother ordered her to marry me."

"Marry?! Haruka, you know that it is illegal!"

"Yes, Rei, it is. However, a former advisor to my mother has helped us devise a plan. If you'd like, we can go inside so I can explain it."

Serenity nodded as she reached out to take Michiru's free hand, surprising the aqua-haired woman. "You're very beautiful. You're the most elegant and graceful person I have ever met; hopefully I can be like you one day."

"Princess . . ."

"I'm glad Haruka found you. She was hurting so much when she left, but now she's whole. Thank you for healing her."

"I didn't do anything," Michiru protested, still holding Haruka's hand as the senshi surrounded the trio. "She's the one who helped me."

"You healed her heart where I couldn't. I'm glad she found you."

* * *

Haruka took her customary seat on one of the couches in the main room of the suite, pulling a blushing Michiru into her lap as Serenity sat beside them and the other four senshi crowded onto the opposite one. Ami leaned over and whispered something in Makoto's ear, the Jovian nodding and poking Rei and Minako. All four of them turned to Michiru and Haruka, mischief in their eyes.

"What's up with you guys?"

"We'll tell you in a minute," Rei replied. "What's your plan for this marriage thing?"

Haruka shrugged, leaning forward so she could see over Michiru's shoulder, letting the Neptunian's gentle scent wash over her. "I developed a new identity, as the youngest son of the Fourth War Queen Ono Hikari, and I went to her for advice. She's my mother's cousin, but she was never content with her mother's lack of _sajink_ —"

"What's that?"

Ami, the genius always ready with an answer, interjected before Haruka could reply. "Uranians believe in the concept of _sa'usikha_ , or two selves inside a single female form. There are two halves, _sajink_ or masculine strength, and _saliis_ or feminine beauty. Every woman is supposed to find a balance between the two, and they must obtain a certain number of titles to be offered suitors. If Ono Hikari's mother lacked _sajink_ , she probably never obtained any titles of her own. It's a great shame on Uranus for a woman to live off her mother's titles."

Rei nodded at the explanation, everyone turning to Haruka as she continued. "Because of her mother's shame, she was never a popular child, but my mother befriended her and they grew up together. She won her titles, including Kazemaru and Fourth War Queen, and she was always my mother's most loyal warrior. Hikari helped me find a priest who is willing to perform the ceremony, but there is no world in the Silver Millennium where it is legal for two royal women to wed."

Haruka let her words trail off, grinning when Serenity gasped in shock. "Earth! Haruka, you want to have your wedding on Earth? You can't go there!"

"Why not? You visit there often enough."

The princess grew silent, the four Inner Senshi turning to her in shock. "You visit Earth? How often?"

"I've been there a lot, Rei," Serenity admitted, sinking deeper into her seat cushions. "But I promised Haruka that I wouldn't go alone anymore."

Minako turned to face her Outer counterpart, one eyebrow raised. "Is that where you and Serenity ran off to that last day you were here? You took her to Earth?"

"It was the other way around, but yes. She has a crush on the prince down there."

"It's not a crush," Serenity whispered. "We're in love."

"Princess," Minako began delicately, her tone gentle but unyielding, "the Earthlings are a fragile race. They barely live sixty years, their infant mortality rate is staggering, and they are technologically primitive compared to us. They have refused us every time we offered to better their people, and they are arrogant. There have been many instances of Lunarian women conceiving children fathered by Earth men, and sixty percent of their pregnancies ended in miscarriages, with thirty percent of the survivors dying before the age of three. They are _weak_ , Serenity, and you cannot consider a future with him."

"Endymion isn't weak."

"Serenity, they are all weak. Your lineage isn't as strong as it once was, you know. Your grandmother had a miscarriage before birthing your mother, and it was a terrible day for the kingdom. Everyone feared that the Silver Millennium was going to be consumed in the darkness foretold in the ancient prophecies. When your mother was born, everyone rejoiced, but you cannot endanger your lineage by marrying a weakling."

Serenity turned her head away from Minako's authoritative gaze, tears forming in the corners of her blue eyes. Feeling oddly protective of the little blonde, Haruka cleared her throat. "Endymion isn't as weak as most Earthlings. He has a reservoir of power I would not expect from that planet. Perhaps being the prince has given him powers we would not expect."

Makoto raised one eyebrow as she regarded her fellow warrior silently, noting the hope shining in Serenity's eyes. "Do you really think this Earthling prince could be a suitable mate for our princess?"

"It's not for me to decide," Haruka returned. "It's Serenity's decision, and we are here to guard her but not to order her around. Besides, when you meet him I think you will agree that he is worthy enough." Serenity flashed the tall Uranian a grateful smile as the conversation returned to the topic of Haruka's upcoming wedding.

"So, a wedding on Earth? Will the marriage be legal?"

"Well, Ami, according to Uranian law, any marriage performed by a priest of the Silent Wind Temple is legal and binding. We aren't very picky about the peculiars, since marriage is not popular on my world. Shousha agreed to obey the laws of Uranus in the matter of the wedding, so it will be legal on Neptune. Earth has no laws preventing two noble women from marrying, so it will also be legal there."

"Legal or not," Rei murmured, "the queens will not be pleased when they find out about this. I'm not sure I want to be there when they discover the truth."

"Speaking of truth," Minako began, breaking the strained silence following Rei's words, "we have some questions."

"Oh?"

Ami waved her hand, the Mercury Computer falling into her palm. She tapped a few keys and cleared her throat, staring at a list filling the small screen. "Where did you go immediately after leaving the Moon?"

"Neptune."

Ami nodded. "Rei and I guessed Uranus, so Minako and Makoto each get one point. Okay, how long after appearing on Neptune did it take for you and Michiru to meet?"

Michiru glanced at the blonde curiously as Haruka shifted her onto the couch, leaning forward and glaring at the inner senshi. "Did you guys take bets on what would happen after I left here?" The four younger princesses shrugged, nodding as Michiru giggled.

"Answer the question, Ruka. If they took bets, they deserve to know the answers."

"Michi, I don't think you understand. I taught them how to take bets on other peoples' love lives, and some of the questions on that list are probably very intimate."

The aqua-haired princess shrugged. "Answer them."

"Fine. She was there when I woke up."

"Ah well, Makoto and I thought it would take longer. When you tried your Kazemaru routine on Michiru, did she believe you?"

"Not at all," Michiru answered, teal eyes sparkling as she began to enjoy the game. "I knew immediately that she was hiding her identity, since Kazemaru is a prestigious title and the High Duke of Umbriel is the honorary name of the goddess who fathered the first Queen of Uranus. She told me the truth as soon as I called her on it."

"One point for me, then, and a third for Minako. Did she train you to fight before confessing?" Michiru nodded, watching as Ami tapped another key. "Points for the warriors. Did anyone else see through your masculine disguise?"

"Well, the Uranian guard did, but only right before we left."

"It still counts," Minako cheered, punching the air triumphantly. "Another point for me!"

"And for me," Makoto added, leaning over Ami's shoulder so she could read the next question. "When did you confess your love?"

"Hey!"

Michiru rested a hand on Haruka's arm, forcing her partner to relax and enjoy the game instead of bristling at the questions. "From what you told me of your visit to the Moon, you were pretty nosy about their relationships," she reminded the blonde. "I don't mind answering them. In any case, Haruka just confessed a few days ago, but I knew from the moment I first saw her."

Ami raised one eyebrow as she scanned the responses. "Since the question refers to Haruka's answer, Rei and Minako get points, since both chose 'over two weeks'. Ok, how did Haruka confess? Was it spontaneous or forced by another person?"

"Forced, by my mother of all people."

Haruka crossed her arms over her chest, an odd light in her green eyes indicating that she was enjoying herself despite her aggressive posture. "I don't need words to express myself, you know."

"Which is why Minako and I both guessed that someone else must have forced you," Rei replied, grinning evilly. "The next two questions are fun. Have you kissed?"

Michiru tilted her head to the side, clearly trying to remember if they had. "Haruka has kissed my forehead and the back of my hand, and I have kissed her palm—"

"That's not the kind of kiss we mean," Rei interrupted.

"Then no, we haven't."

"Wow," Makoto breathed, shock in her emerald eyes. "I guessed that you hadn't, but I was debating what to answer even until the end. How can you not have kissed yet? If that's your answer . . . then I suppose you haven't become lovers yet, either?"

Haruka smirked, running a hand through her hair nervously. "Didn't any of you listen to my lessons? Neptunians are special, and they certainly aren't the kind to jump in bed with just any Uranian."

"Only with you, Ruka," Michiru whispered, a faint blush coloring her cheeks. "And only after the wedding."

Minako groaned and let her head fall into her hands. "Great, we won't get any sleep for a week. I've heard that Uranian women are _loud_."

Michiru regarded Haruka curiously, a smile tugging at the corner of her lips as the Uranian blushed. "Are you loud?"

"I suppose you'll just have to wait and find out," she replied huskily.

"And now I'm glad that my rooms are at the other end of the palace," Serenity giggled, glancing at Ami as the genius tallied the bets. "Who won?"

"Well, I got three points, Makoto got five, and Rei got six. Since Minako was the only one to get the last questions wrong, she also has six points."

"Tie-breaker!" Serenity turned to face the pair, clapping her hands excitedly. "What made you realize that you love Michiru? I mean, really love her, like you can't live without her."

Haruka's eyes grew distant as she considered the question, Minako standing from the couch to offer her guess. "While they were playing music together, Haruka realized the truth and confessed!"

Rei stood next to her soul mate, purple eyes filled with the pain of _knowing_ the only thing that could have made the blonde confess, in this life or any other. "Michiru was dying and you saw what your world would be like without her. Even though you had never kissed or been lovers, you knew that you needed her in your life."

Haruka slowly nodded, reaching out to take Michiru's hand in hers. "We did play music together, and I did feel a connection then, but love is a strange and foreign concept to a Uranian. Her visions began to overwhelm her and she slipped into a coma, nearly dying before Shousha returned and gave her the henshin stick. In those last moments, when her heartbeat started to falter, I just wanted to follow her into death."

Rei smiled triumphantly, turning to the other three inner senshi and raising an eyebrow. Groaning, Makoto nodded. "I know, I've got your guard duty for the rest of the week."

"And I have your chores in the barracks," Ami continued, closing her computer and letting it vanish again.

Minako held out her hand silently, summoning her Love Me Chain and handing it over to her mate, head bowed in defeat. Grinning, Rei accepted the offering, hooking it on her belt as a blush spread across Minako's cheeks.

"What kind of prize is that?"

Haruka snorted at the princess's innocent question, Michiru blushing as her mind began to supply her with images of what the Martian could do to her mate with the chain. She might have lived a sheltered life, but even she had to admit she was turned on by the possibilities. "It's the best of them all. Maybe one day Endymion will show you. But for tonight, be glad your room is at the other end of the castle."

A soft knock interrupted the conversation, Rei pulling Minako toward the balcony for a brief, private conversation as Makoto walked over and opened the door. A royal page bowed to the princess, his eyes focused on the ground. "Your Highness, I bring a message from Her Majesty Queen Serenity. She invites all of you and your guests to dinner tonight in the main dining hall, and she hopes that you can attend."

Makoto shrugged. "Sure, we'll be there."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (notes from the ffnet version, still relevant)
> 
> Looking at all of the scenes and events I still have planned, I think we are probably at about the middle of this fic (8/16/17 edit: haha, no, not even a third of the way through!), and the meeting on Titan is very, very soon (8/16/17 edit: also not true, it's not for 8 more chapters). Next chapter is the wedding and some more fun stuff with Cupids, Earthlings, and Setsuna's time knot. Also, I wrote that entire scene with the bet just so I could have Rei get Minako's chain (sexual innuendo for the win). It took me forever to decide which senshi would get each question right.


	14. The Wind and the Sea

**Chapter 14: The Wind and the Sea**

* * *

_February 12, 8983 – February 13, 8983_

* * *

The main dining hall in the palace was large enough to seat hundreds, but the Queen's table sat on a raised dais overlooking the whole room. Two heralds sounded trumpets as the procession of princesses entered the room, Queen Serenity standing from her ornate chair to greet them. Princess Serenity led the group, clad in a flowing petal pink gown, pink flowers threaded through her long hair. Minako followed on her heels, her dress a few shades darker than Serenity's and edged in white lace, strings of pink topazes in her loose hair. Rei walked behind her soul mate, crimson hair hanging down her back in a series of intricate braids, the rich purple of her gown a match for the dark gems threaded through her hair. Ami followed the Martian, her dark blue dress just reaching her knees, a jeweled blue topaz flower in her short hair. Makoto brought up the rear of the group, eyes alert for any enemy, her curled emerald hair flirting with the straps of her black gown as she walked.

Haruka followed a few steps behind Makoto, her dark boots ringing on the white marble floor as she entered the hall. Her gold suit was trimmed in navy, white patterns running down the sides of her jacket and her pants. It was a more extravagant suit than she had worn to visit Ono Hikari, one befitting a prince, and she felt like she could finally enjoy herself as a royal in Serenity's palace. One her arm, every step elegant and every breath the epitome of grace, Michiru marveled at the huge hall. Her dress was colored in sea green, a perfect match for her hair, with sapphire accents to match the shine in her teal eyes. She let her hair hang loosely around her shoulder, the wavy strands dancing over her shoulders and reaching for Haruka with every step the pair took. Queen Serenity watched the group approach, curious eyes trying to decide what relationship the princess of Neptune shared with the Uranian noble man.

The princesses took their seats, a flock of servants delivering the appetizers as Queen Serenity waved a hand. "Please, enjoy."

"It looks wonderful, Mother."

"I had them make your favorite today in celebration of your friends' visit." Something in Serenity's tone indicated that her daughter should introduce the new additions to the palace, and the blonde princess obeyed.

"Mother, this is the same Kazemaru who was training my senshi weeks ago, and this is Princess Michiru of Neptune."

"Kazemaru . . . I didn't remember the first time I met you, since I was so busy, but that is a title, isn't it? Kazeko had that title when I first met her, years ago."

Haruka started at the mention of her mother, covering her emotional reaction with a sip of wine. "Yes, it is a title. And calling myself a child of the High Duke of Umbriel is just a fancy way of saying that I come from the royal lineage. I am Rukaze, and my mother is Ono Hikari, Fourth War Queen of Uranus."

"Oh, you're Hikari's son. I remember her from the day Princess Haruka was born. She's Kazeko's cousin, if I remember correctly, and quite a powerful warrior herself."

Haruka nodded. "She carries many titles, including Kazemaru."

"Why did you decide to visit the Moon, Rukaze?"

Haruka shrugged, watching Michiru sample her appetizers from the corner of one eye. "It is common for a Uranian to wander away from home when he or she turns twenty-one. I needed to find myself and my future. I cannot live under my mother's name and titles for the rest of my life."

"How many titles do you have?"

"Seven; five war titles including Kazemaru and two artistic ones."

Serenity nodded and sipped her wine thoughtfully. The other princesses were watching the blonde discreetly, curious about Uranian culture and wondering how long Haruka could lie to the Queen. "Then you certainly have enough to request a wife."

Michiru giggled and placed her glass back on the table, hands folded politely in her lap. "Actually, Ruka didn't need any titles to ask for a wife. My mother was impressed enough with Ruka's devotion to me while I was sick that she ordered us to wed."

"Sick? I had not heard anything about an illness, Michiru."

"It was nothing, Your Majesty, just the normal pre-transformation premonitions that every Sailor Neptune experiences. I have my henshin stick now, so I am fine. Ruka helped me through some pretty terrible days, and Mother was impressed."

"So, you two are getting married? When?"

"Soon," Michiru evaded, waving one hand at the gathered princesses. "I thought that I should meet my princess and fellow warriors before the wedding. I've never left my world until now, and I didn't want to keep living that isolated life."

Queen Serenity smiled at the Neptunian, a distant light in her lavender eyes. "You will make a beautiful bride, Michiru. You look so much like your mother did at your age. Back then she spent every waking moment with Kazeko, before Setsuna introduced Tsuyu to her. I'm glad you've found a suitable mate."

"So am I."

* * *

"So, wedding tomorrow?"

Haruka raised one eyebrow at the excited princess, shaking her head at the Lunarian clinging to her free arm. After the meal, they had all retired to the huge senshi suite, collapsing on the couches and comparing their childhoods. Serenity's question caught them all off guard. "I suppose. I hadn't thought much beyond getting the priest and getting back here, but we can wed tomorrow if that's okay with Michiru."

The Neptunian smiled, leaning her head on Haruka's shoulder. "That will be fine."

"In that case, I suppose some arrangements must be made. Serenity, can you send a message to your prince and ask him to be ready for visitors tomorrow afternoon? I'll get our priest to meet us in the abandoned wing of the palace and we can all transport down together." She paused, her gaze meeting Rei's across the room. "There's only one thing that truly worries me about this plan."

"What?"

"Pluto," Rei and Michiru answered at the same time.

"Oh," Minako replied, furrowing her eyebrows. "What can we do to keep her away? She would never approve."

Serenity stood from her seat on the couch beside Haruka, a slow smile spreading across her face. "I know a way to keep her occupied. Michiru, tell us about that vision that you had. Was it really bad?"

"It was the end of the Silver Millennium, if we can't prevent it."

Serenity nodded, her gaze meeting each of her guardians in turn. "I trust all of you to prevent this coming destruction, but my mother doesn't know you like I do. If Michiru shows her that vision with her mirror, she will freak out and contact Pluto immediately."

"Pluto? Why?"

"She always has. Whenever something worries her, Mother calls Setsuna. That should keep them both distracted long enough for your wedding."

"Let's hope it works. An angry Sailor Pluto is a sight I am not ready to see."

* * *

Haruka watched Michiru dress for bed, her emerald eyes dark with lust. She couldn't help it. She had promised herself that she wouldn't get into a relationship with Michiru for the sake of their mission, but the Neptunian's near-death experience had changed something between them. She wanted Michiru more than she had ever wanted anything in her life, and there was a part of her that didn't care if the whole universe burned as long she could be with her lithe siren.

"You don't mean that." Haruka started at Michiru's gentle reprimand, trying to remember if she had spoken out loud. The Neptunian turned to her partner, having chosen to wear a simple green shift to bed, her eyes almost sapphire in the dim light. "You didn't say it out loud, but I could _feel_ what you were thinking. Maybe it has something to do with my talisman."

"Or something to do with our bond." Haruka stood from her seat, taking a step forward and pulling the smaller woman into her arms. "I do mean it."

"Haruka, we can't sacrifice the entire Silver Millennium just to be together. We have a duty as soldiers to protect everything, no matter our feelings."

Haruka smiled at Michiru, closing her eyes briefly. "It's too late for that, Michi."

"I know," she whispered, resting her head on the Uranian's chest. "I thought I should try to give you one last chance to back out of this. Our marriage could bring about the end of the Silver Millennium."

"Or it could save it. Either way, I'm marrying you tomorrow."

Michiru nodded and walked away from her partner, slipping into the large bed in the center of the room. She raised one eyebrow as Haruka stripped out of her suit and dropped it haphazardly on the floor, the blonde slipping under the covers beside her partner, naked. "Shouldn't you slip into something?"

"I'd like to slip into you."

"Haruka!"

"Shh," the blonde admonished, amazed at what she had been able to say without blushing. Michiru, however, had not learned to control that impulse yet. "You don't want the others to think that we've started our honeymoon early."

Michiru shook her head and curled up against Haruka's side, letting her hands dance across her partner's soft skin. She couldn't resist cupping Haruka's breast in her palm, keeping her touches feathery light in an attempt not to arouse her partner more than she already was. Michiru knew how uncontrollable a lust-crazy Uranian could be. "It's not like they could hear us over Rei and Minako."

As if she had heard the Neptunian's words, Minako's piercing scream echoed through the apartment, followed by more of the Martian's moans that had been leaking from their room for almost an hour. "She has more stamina than I would have expected from a Venusian," Haruka commented distractedly, rolling over and pinning Michiru to their bed. She leaned down and kissed the smaller woman on her cheek, having decided to save their first real kiss for their wedding. "Goodnight, my Michiru."

"Goodnight, my Ruka."

* * *

"Your Majesty?"

"Michiru?" Serenity turned from her advisors as the aqua-haired princess entered the room, the Deep Aqua Mirror clutched tightly in her hands. Queen Serenity had learned long ago that nothing good ever came of an Outer Senshi bearing her talisman. Without even bothering to offer an excuse, she dismissed her advisors, the two women staring at each other across the low table in the queen's small conference room.

"I came alone. This is something I thought you should see first."

"First?"

Michiru waved a hand vaguely over her shoulder, her posture stiff and her eyes worried. Serenity had never seen a Neptunian woman so off-balance. "The others will all know eventually, but maybe there is something you can do to help. I told you that I was having pre-transformation premonitions, but that is not the whole truth. The visions were getting worse, but I could never really see them, so I began to push. First I had headaches, then seizures, and finally I slipped into a coma. Ruka called my mother home to give me the Neptune henshin stick, and I finally saw the vision of destruction that has been plaguing me for months."

Michiru walked to the table, placing her mirror on the smooth white surface so Serenity could see the reflection. She closed her worried teal eyes, one hand on the mirror's handle as she channeled her vision once more. Lavender eyes filling with shock and fear, Serenity watched the scene unfold.

_Darkness spreading across the Solar System, engulfing every planet and leaving behind nothing but death. Screams filling the empty air. The Moon covered in ruins, bodies everywhere, some of them senshi. They have failed in their duty. The Queen is dead, the princess is dead, and there is nothing left of the Silver Millennium. The darkness reaches for the Earth, but a brilliant golden light drives it back, protecting that one last planet of hope. The silver light of the ginzuishou cleanses the Moon, followed by the vibrant purple light of a scythe that buries the ruins. The bodies are gone, the souls released to be reborn, and Time screams into the emptiness._

Serenity fell out of her chair, wide eyes staring at the mirror in disbelief. The image of Sailor Pluto leaning over her stiff form was burned into her memory, tears in the corners of her lavender eyes. "The end . . . everything is going to be destroyed."

"Not if we can find a way to stop it," Michiru replied softly.

"I have to . . . I have to call someone. Thank you, for showing me your vision."

"Do you know how to prevent this from coming to pass?" Michiru knew that her question was pointless. The Queen would not have the slightest idea how to identify and neutralize a threat so great that Sailor Saturn was stirring, but she had to make sure that Serenity's conversation with Setsuna lasted long enough for her wedding to proceed as planned. This would be their only chance.

"I'll find out," Serenity promised.

* * *

"You look lovely, Michiru."

The Neptunian smiled at Minako, staring at herself in the full-length mirror and running one hand appreciatively over the shimmering fabric of her dress. Each planet had its own traditions and superstitions regarding marriage, but Uranus had none at all. As long as both parties were attired in something decent, and as long as the officiating priest was of the Silent Wind Temple, nothing else mattered. On Neptune, the color blue was usually preferred for brides as the color of the sea and their guardian planet. On Venus, the brides wore gold and pink to honor their patron goddess, while Martians preferred red and black (and often leather) for their brides. Makoto mentioned something about leather and furs while Ami told Michiru that her planet preferred neutral colored suits.

Michiru had decided not to follow any of the planetary traditions. Her dress was white with powder blue and silver accents, the corset tight and heavy with intricate embroidery and the loose skirt covered in lace and ruffles. It was modeled after one of Princess Serenity's formal gowns, the princess's seamstresses altering the gown overnight with a speed that Michiru appreciated. Minako, Serenity, and Ami helped the other princess with her dress and makeup, the Venusian glaring at Michiru's aqua locks before dropping her comb in annoyance.

"I hate to say it—actually, it's rather embarrassing for the princess of a planet of beauty to admit—but I have never been very good at doing my own hair, let alone someone else's. The only princess I know with talent in that area is Haruka."

"Haruka?" Michiru was as genuinely surprised as the other three princesses. "She has less hair than any of us; why would she know how to take care of it?"

Minako chuckled as she walked to the door to summon the other half of their group into Michiru's bedroom. "She says that pleasing women is her specialty."

Haruka entered the large room a moment later, her stance as cocky as ever despite the trepidation in her emerald eyes. She had chosen a dark navy suit for the wedding, one styled by a Venusian and therefore perfectly form-fitting. Her shirt was gold and the accents white, her hair somewhat tamed for her big day. Michiru couldn't help but notice that Haruka had foregone the tight bindings she used to hide her gender, and the slightest swell of her breasts was accented by the feminine cut of the suit, the jacket tapered to hug her slim waist and hide all pretenses of masculinity. Even her boots were feminine, almost a perfect match for the ones she wore as Sailor Uranus.

"You look beautiful," Michiru managed, blushing at her own choice of words. "I think that you have finally found your perfect balance between _sajink_ and _saliis_."

Haruka shrugged, the gesture revealing that she had found a new inner peace since her visit to Neptune. She was no longer afraid to flaunt her femininity, even though her strength was still obvious. "I don't have to worry about anyone _seeing_ me anymore. As long as I am with you, your beauty will shine brightly enough to blind any observer."

Michiru blushed at the compliment as her partner joined her at the dressing table. Rei and Makoto entered the bedroom behind the blonde, joining Minako and Ami while Serenity stepped forward to help Haruka. The Uranian glanced at the array of pins, gems, flowers, and hair ornaments arrayed before her, grabbing the comb Minako had dropped while she pondered. She eventually decided to pile all of Michiru's hair on top of her head in an elegant twist with a few strands left loose to frame her face. Making use of the strings of gems that Minako covered half of the table with, she decorated the styled hair with pale blue topazes, stepping back and pondering for a moment.

"Serenity, could you grab me one of those rare blue roses you picked from the garden this morning?" The princess nodded and dashed into the main room, glad to be able to help. She returned an instant later with the pale flower, having chosen one that was already in full bloom, and Haruka took it carefully. Staring at the thorns for a moment, she drew her Space Sword and carefully sliced them off, cutting the stem in half before slipping it into Michiru's twisted hair. She settled the flower just above her partner's ear, stepping back and smiling. "Beautiful."

The other princesses nodded in agreement, Michiru blushing as she carefully rose to her feet. Reaching out with one hand, she grabbed Haruka's ear and pulled her down to face level. The blonde grunted in surprise, emerald eyes wide as she tried to decide what she had done to upset her partner. "That is a _talisman_ , Haruka, not something you use to trim flowers. I thought we talked about this." Her voice was stern, but her eyes sparkled with mirth at the fake pain on Haruka's face.

"Sorry, but I don't carry any other knife." The blonde grinned as she stepped closer to the aquanette, knowing that Michiru was not in the least bit angry with her. "You're being so rough, Michi; I want you to touch me gently."

Michiru turned crimson at the words and the insinuation in Haruka's husky tone, releasing the blonde's ear and taking a step back. Rei snorted in amusement as the Neptunian smiled demurely. "Maybe later, when we're alone," she replied sweetly, echoing Haruka's words from Neptune. "You wouldn't want to scar these young women with your rough manner."

"Hey!"

Minako giggled as she shooed the princesses out of the bedroom, taking Rei's hand and gesturing for the brides to lead. "You two are made for each other, that's for sure. Let's get you married, shall we?"

Haruka turned as Minako moved to pass her in the suite, wrapping her long fingers gently around the other blonde's slender wrist. "Are you sure you don't want some bracelets or something to hide these?" Her fingers brushed the red chain-shaped marks on Minako's pale wrist, having seen similar ones on the Venusian's ankles and neck before she dressed. Minako's dress and jeweled choker hid the other ones, but the marks on her wrists were still very visible.

Minako blushed and shook her head as Rei slipped an arm around her waist. "No, they're fine as they are."

Haruka nodded and led her bride and friends out of the suite, smiling at the tall Uranian man who waited for them. The priest bowed to his princess and fell into step behind her group as Serenity led them all to the abandoned wing of the palace and the transporter hidden there.

* * *

"Endymion!" Serenity glanced up at Haruka, her blue eyes begging for permission, and the Uranian nodded, smiling warmly. With a childlike squeal of joy, the blonde princess dashed through the garden and leaped into her waiting prince's arms. The rest of the princesses followed her more slowly, the Inners taking time to admire the roses and smell the air of the only planet in the system to have a natural atmosphere. The sun sat in a cloudless sky, warming them more than any of their planets' artificial lights ever could, giving life to the outcast planet.

"This place is beautiful," Minako breathed, staring up into a cloudless blue sky. "It's so full of life and light. Even my own world isn't so lovely. I'd like to live here someday."

"Says the Crown Princess of Venus," Rei chuckled, letting her fingers caress the petals of the roses they walked past. "It is very peaceful here. The Earthlings may be primitive, without all of our technology and power, but they have the most wonderful home."

"Welcome to my planet, Princesses of the Silver Millennium." Endymion managed to detach Serenity from his body for a moment and offered the group a low bow, smiling as his eyes met Haruka's. "I see you found someone worth loving."

"I did. This is Michiru, High Princess of Neptune."

Endymion bowed to the elegant woman, glancing at the Inner Senshi who were standing in a semi-circle around him. "I am glad that all of Serenity's guardians are here at last."

Haruka introduced the rest of the senshi before calling her priest forward. "This is Kiyoshi, a priest of the Silent Wind Temple of Uranus. He will be performing our ceremony today."

The priest bowed his head at the introduction. "Shall we begin?"

* * *

Serenity emptied the communications room, setting her guards at the door with orders to repulse anyone seeking entry. The call that she needed to make to Setsuna was far too important to risk someone overhearing her. With shaking hands, she typed in Pluto's personal code, calling her directly at Charon Palace.

Setsuna's face appeared on the screen moments later, her garnet eyes confused. She tilted her head at the worry in her queen's lavender eyes. _"Serenity, why are you calling me? I did not expect to hear from you today."_

"I'm sorry, Se, but I had to call." Setsuna started at the name, having grown unused to mortals calling her that. Serenity had learned the truth of her Setsuna's divinity decades earlier, and she had always used the dark queen's true name when they were in private since. "Michiru showed me her vision today. Sailor Saturn is really going to awaken."

" _Serenity, I already told you about that possibility in our future, but we senshi will prevent it. Why are you so worried now?"_

"Because she showed me our deaths in her mirror. I saw you standing over my body, Se. There's a difference between your vague warning that Saturn is stirring and this vision clearly showing my death and the destruction of everything I love."

Setsuna's eyes darkened at Serenity's words and the fear behind them. _"You've never been afraid before, despite some of the hardships we had to endure."_

"Well I'm afraid now."

Setsuna sighed and closed her eyes, vanishing from her seat in front of the screen and appearing by Serenity's side a moment later. The queen stood, facing her oldest and most loyal senshi, tears in her lavender eyes. Setsuna pulled the distraught queen into her arms, whispering a soothing prayer in Plutonian as the silver-haired woman struggled not to cry. "What did you see in her mirror? You understand that it's quite possible you misunderstood the image, since this Sailor Neptune is brand new and her premonitions might still be shaky."

"The surface of the Moon was covered in bodies. Every building was destroyed and every senshi was dead. I saw Serenity's body at the stairs to the palace and a dark cloud settling over everything. I saw a scythe come down and erase everything, then I saw you leaning over my body. There was a golden light from the Earth just before the vision ended, but I'm almost sure I saw a dark figure behind you. Se . . ."

"I know. It's bad. Even if Neptune's vision is not entirely accurate, I am worried. Where is she now?"

Serenity shrugged slightly, letting her head rest on Setsuna's shoulder for the first time in fourteen years. The dark queen's strength comforted the silver-haired woman, and she was in no hurry to leave Setsuna's arms. "I think she went to show her vision to the other senshi. Let them process it in their own way. You'll have time to discuss it at your meeting next week."

Setsuna leaned her head down and kissed Serenity's forehead, knowing better than to allow herself the luxury but unable to resist. As a child of darkness, she had always been addicted to the light, and now that she had her queen in her arms she never wanted to let her go. "The time knot is changing daily now. I can barely keep up, even with the help of Tranquility's cupid army, but I don't want to go to the meeting without at least some good news. I haven't even identified the threat yet, which is unusual. Without Uranus and Neptune at their posts, I might not be able to catch the coming enemy before Saturn is forced to awaken. In ten thousand years, this kingdom has never been in such danger."

"I trust you to save everyone, Setsuna."

_I wish I trusted me to do that,_ the Queen of Pluto whispered in the privacy of her own mind. _I want nothing more than to save you._

* * *

Kiyoshi stood before the two women, a small dagger in one hand and a strip of golden cloth in the other. His dark grey eyes were devoid of any emotion as he began his intonation, his words intoned in the Uranian High Mirandan dialect used for marriage ceremonies. Endymion watched silently, unable to understand but willing to be a witness for the woman who protected Serenity on her trips to the Moon. Ami fiddled with her computer for a moment while Kiyoshi recited an ancient tale of destined lovers, placing it on the ground and smiling as a projection appeared in the air before her. The princesses and prince watched, amazed, as the machine projected a Sol Standard translation of Kiyoshi's words into the air before them, letting them understand the ceremony.

Michiru and Haruka did not need the same technological crutch that most of their friends required. Haruka spoke every Uranian dialect as the princess of her planet should, and Michiru had taken time to learn as many as she could after meeting a certain wild, blonde princess on the Moon fourteen years earlier. As Kiyoshi finished his story, Rei moved into her assigned position at Haruka's left elbow, Minako flanking Michiru on the opposite side. Many of the planets' marriage ceremony included assistants to stand beside the bride and groom, but on Uranus the two were expected to be warriors of highest regard and as noble as possible. Rei's official role was described as _sword bearer_ , and as such she would receive the knife when Kiyoshi had finished with it. Minako, stationed beside the _ch'kuri_ , had the title _ribbon bearer_.

"Marriage is not a concept native to our world," Kiyoshi began; having finished the ancient tale he now spoke in a more natural voice, even allowing a hint of emotion to enter his eyes. "We learned from others how to bind ourselves to one person for all of eternity, but very few women ever find a single person worth such devotion. In the case of Uranus Haruka, I can see that her heart chose Neptune Michiru more than a dozen years ago, as is proper with soul mates. Their souls have been together before, and they will be together again, but today we will bind their bodies." He held out his left hand, the golden cloth hanging from his fingers, and waited for Haruka and Michiru to hold out their hands, too. With surgical precision, he made a small incision in Haruka's right palm, a simple wavy line commonly used in ancient and modern Uranian art to represent the wind. Coincidentally, Neptunians used the same symbol to represent the sea.

Haruka watched blood well up from the cut as Kiyoshi copied the symbol on the skin of Michiru's left palm, the aqua-haired princess still holding her hand steady despite the pain that a non-warrior race would not be accustomed to dealing with. Handing the stained knife to Haruka's sword bearer, Kiyoshi took Michiru's bloodied palm and placed it against Haruka's, letting their blood mingle as he wrapped the golden cloth around their joined hands. "As their blood becomes one, the _sa'rikhj_ will speak."

Haruka nodded and turned to face Michiru, ignoring the tingling itch in her hand as her senshi healing took care of the small cut Kiyoshi had made. She had intended to speak in Uranian, but something in Michiru's teal eyes changed her mind. Smiling, she decided to say her vows in Venusian. _"Cold . . . in little light, my planet of isolation makes even myself freeze over. Before I met you, I was a pirate, taking for my own everything I liked in the world that I could see. I was a queen, leading all those around me."_ She felt Rei's eyes on her back, burning into her, as her dark loneliness washed over everyone. Born a princess, living a life of solitude, she had everything she thought she wanted, including a plethora of women to share her bed. Rei and Minako remembered her confident words to them on the Moon about the women she had slept with, but her words now showed them how lonely she had been even then.

" _Archery, racing, hang gliding, fencing. Whatever I did, no one was a match for me. I went along, satisfied with that life. I spent the time convincing myself that I was satisfied. But . . . but then . . . I felt I was really about to break apart. I felt I was going to be crushed by irritation. After I tore off the mask of the daytime, every night in bed I cried out without a voice."_ Michiru's eyes widened at the desperation in Haruka's words, feelings she could not hide in the language she had chosen. From the tears in the corners of her partner's emerald eyes, the Uranian was ready to let everyone see into her heart. " _No . . . this me is not me. It's not the real me! I was but a child, trying to escape my own destiny. Wrapped in a thin blanket, I was a naked child crying."_

Haruka's next words sent joy through her observers, even Endymion who had to read the translations on Ami's screen. _"And then, when I met you, I understood at once. You were that person. You were that person I searched for, and at the same time was afraid of."_ Afraid? Michiru tilted her head to the side, wondering why the blonde had feared her. _"You, elegant but having wild eyes . . . never turning your eyes from reality, fighting against everything. You taught me that destiny is something you choose yourself."_ Her hope tinged with something else warm touched the group as she prepared herself to finish her vows. Michiru could sense Haruka begin to truly struggle with her words; a woman whose language had no word for love trying to describe what she felt.

" _Like the larva dies and is reborn a butterfly, at that time the cowardly me was killed by you. You, strong and able to keep fighting."_ Michiru remembered the pain she felt, lying in her bed as her body failed her, but she had still been able to feel Haruka by her side, even in the darkest depths of her coma. The blonde's brilliant strength as much as her own henshin stick had brought her back to the world, but Haruka still seemed to think that Michiru was the strong one. _"And yet . . . when I'm thinking of you . . . for some reason . . . gentle feelings . . . fill my heart."_ It was all she could manage, but it was enough. Michiru felt tears in her own eyes as Haruka's love washed over her, and she knew that she could never stand to be separated from this woman. _"For everything, thank you, Michiru."_

The Neptunian raised their joined hands to her lips and kissed the back of Haruka's palm, knowing without a doubt that her blonde loved her. To hear her say the words would have cheapened their bond, but feeling the words brought tears of joy to her teal eyes. Kiyoshi nodded as Haruka finished, waving his free hand at Michiru. "The _ch'kuri_ will now speak."

Michiru decided to speak her own vows in Venusian, as well, even though she was perfectly capable of expressing her own feelings in words. _"What I dream of is a beach house where I live together with you. A white house on the promontory, where we can always hear the sounds of the waves surging back and forth. What a thought!"_ To just live as normal women, without their kingdoms to rule and the Laws to obey would be wonderful, but Michiru knew that it could never happen in this life. _"But it would have been better if you were a more boring, ordinary person."_ Haruka couldn't help but chuckle at the words, and Michiru smiled gently as she continued. _"So then I would live without wanting you. Even if we did happen to meet, I would live without wanting you."_ She took a shallow breath before continuing, knowing that her words had the chance to hurt Haruka but hoping that the blonde would sense the love behind them. _"Even when you're with a lot of friends, you're always still alone. I knew about you since I was a child. I've known since I was little that I'd be able to meet my destined one. But that's not the reason I wanted you."_ Haruka tilted her head to the side, curious. She would have thought that Michiru, as a Neptunian, would be obsessed with destiny and a pre-written future, but she was beginning to understand that her partner was by no means a normal Neptunian. _"Destiny is meaningless to me. I'm not the type to worry about that sort of thing."_

Michiru's words darkened as she remembered the first time she sensed her premonition of destruction, long before she received her mirror. _"Since the darkened sky stole the sun, I can't just leave myself to the current. That's revealed by human nature, I know. Just . . ."_ What could she say? How could she express why she wanted to be with Haruka, why she needed the blonde in her life? She paused for a second, her gaze dancing across Haruka's feminine form before she continued.

" _Oh, you're so attractive anyway!"_ Minako chuckled at the Neptunian's spontaneous words and the tiny sigh that followed. Everyone could feel Michiru's desire mixed with a bit of trepidation as she began to realize that she was accepting destiny by marrying her soul mate. For the first time in a life fraught with constant battles against the future laid before her, Michiru was preparing to embrace her destiny, literally and figuratively. _"I wish we hadn't met. I plan to break up with you even now, if you become a boring person. But I know. You won't depend on anyone. You'll always be obedient to your own feelings. And you'll be like that until you die."_ Haruka nodded her encouragement as Michiru's grip on her hand tightened, sensing that the Neptunian was finally ready. Shousha might have been the one to order Michiru to wed Haruka, but the princess had finally accepted in her heart that it was the right decision.

" _So fine! I've decided myself! I'm just running toward what I want. To always be with you, who knows isolation . . . I've decided that . . . in my heart."_ Haruka could feel warmth wash over her, echoing what she felt when she thought of Michiru, that feeling called love. Unlike her, Michiru could say it. She was ready to say it. _"Haruka, you and I are forever, no matter what else happens. I love you."_

Kiyoshi raised his hand to touch the golden strip of cloth holding the two hands together, freezing as both women began to glow with their senshi power. Rei, Minako, Makoto, and Ami felt their own powers begin to respond as wind gusted fitfully around the group. Haruka stared at her hand and the golden glow that had begun to reach for Michiru. Her partner's own aqua glow began to pulse in time with hers, the colors reaching for each other as a storm formed suddenly overhead.

* * *

"Do you feel better now?"

Serenity nodded, reluctantly pulling away from Setsuna. "I'm sorry I called you like that. Michiru frightened me."

"She has more power than her mother ever imagined if she can show you a vision that detailed immediately after receiving her henshin stick."

Serenity reached up and touched Setsuna's cheek, smiling at the dark woman. "Will you stay for a while?"

"I can't."

"Se—"

"Ser, you know why I can't. Would you sacrifice your daughter because of your love for me? We have protected her this long by staying apart and I will not jeopardize her life now." The silver-haired queen let her hand drop as reality crashed down around them again and she accepted Setsuna's words.

"It's been fourteen years since we were last together."

"I know. I suffer every day without you, but we aren't like the other queens. We can't have our monthly trysts and enjoy our love behind the backs of our courts. You and I . . . we would destroy everything if we were together." Setsuna turned her head away, her hands clenching into fists despite her best efforts. When she was around Serenity, she always skated just on the edge of losing control, something that the daughter of Hades could never, ever allow to happen. "We agreed to this the day she was born, my love. You agreed to this."

"I know." She took a deep breath and pulled herself up to her full height, letting the mantle of her royal duties settle on her shoulders once more. "Forgive my weakness."

Setsuna smiled and summoned her Time Staff. "Only if you can forgive mine. I'm the one who came here just to hold you." Setsuna narrowed her garnet eyes as something indistinct whispered along the edge of her consciousness and blinded her subconscious connection to the Time Streams, her planet desperately screaming at her through that haze. "Something . . . the planets are stirring?" She pulled her garnet orb into her hands, staring into its dark depths as an image began to form. Before she could see any details other than a group of silhouettes, the power of Pluto filled her frame, forcing her to her knees with the suddenness of it. She felt herself transform—for the first time in her life without her control—as a brilliant golden light exploded from her orb, washing away any chance she had of a vision.

* * *

The four Inner Senshi moved into action. Makoto moved to stand in front of Kiyoshi, Ami taking position on the opposite side of Haruka and Michiru as they formed their first ever barrier. With Minako's golden-orange power leading, they used the power they drew from their planets to control the growing strength of Uranus and Neptune. The golden glow met the aqua one, but something was missing and the planets were unable to do whatever they were attempting. Haruka was able to force the power of Uranus away through the strength of her will alone, sighing in relief as the warm burn of her power faded. Opening her eyes—not having realized that she had closed them from the force required to subdue her planet—Haruka noticed that Michiru was able to gain control over her own world, as well. As soon as the danger was past and the clouds overhead had dissipated, the Inner Senshi let their barrier fall.

"What was that?"

Haruka turned her head toward the Earth Prince, nodding her approval of the princess hidden safely behind his form. "I don't know. My planet activated, but something was missing. It's still asleep, so whatever dreams or nightmares planets have must have bothered it." She wasn't willing to tell Endymion about her interpretation of the Ancient Law nor was she willing to believe that her planet had intentionally tried to combine its power with Neptune's life-force. That was something the six senshi would have to try to determine later, in privacy on the Moon.

Kiyoshi stepped past Makoto, reaching for the golden cloth still wrapped around Haruka and Michiru's joined hands. With the crisis seemingly resolved, the priest was prepared to finish the ceremony. "When two warriors shed blood for each other, they have forged a bond too strong for any mortal to break. Today these two have done just that, proving their eternal bond for the world to see. This ribbon is now a physical representation of the bond between their souls, and no one can ever question their devotion to each other. Princess, I give you your bride." Kiyoshi removed the ribbon and handed it to Minako, watching as Haruka reluctantly released Michiru's hand and glanced at the blood on her palm. Kiyoshi glanced at Minako, motioning for her to remember her assigned role, and the blonde took the gold ribbon and dipped it into a small bowl of water on the ground at her feet. Gently, so as not to disturb the healing wound, she wiped away the blood on Haruka's palm, turning to Michiru to repeat the action. Their senshi healing had already sealed the wounds, but because of the special poison on the tip of the ceremonial knife, both wounds would scar.

Haruka pulled Michiru into her arms, the earlier surge of power forgotten as her emerald eyes met Michiru's sapphire-tinted teal. "Michiru?"

She understood the question, smiling as she nodded. "Yes, Haruka." Grinning, the blonde leaned down and captured her wife's lips with her own, pouring all of her feelings and _love_ into their first kiss. A collective sigh of awe spread through the group, even the Earth Prince appreciating the scene as Serenity stared up at him with dreamy eyes.

When Haruka and Michiru pulled apart for some much-needed air, Kiyoshi's gentle cough caught their attention. "I will leave the knife, ribbon, and documentation in your suite, Highness, and return to my meditations on Oberon."

"Of course. Thank you."

"Anything for my princess." Kiyoshi bowed before gathering the ritual items together and walking away, headed for the transporter in the center of the garden.

"Haruka, do you feel anything strange from your planet now?"

The blonde shook her head, still lost in Michiru's eyes. "No, Minako. We will have to access the archives on the Moon and see if the planets have ever done anything strange like that before. I would ask Pluto, but she might figure out what we did."

"Archives? I have an uplink to the Moon Archives in my palace."

The senshi turned to Endymion in surprise, but the Earth Prince only shrugged. "Even before Serenity first began to visit me, I had been in diplomatic talks with her mother about possibly having Earth join the Silver Millennium. At some point, she offered me access to the public archives so I could learn about your planets and hopefully pick up a couple of languages. Sol Standard is not that different from my native language, but I have recently been learning some Lunarian."

"Not a language to speak lightly," Haruka murmured, her eyes flitting briefly to Serenity. "I would prefer to return to the Moon as soon as possible."

Minako snorted, taking Rei's hand and leading her to stand behind Endymion and Serenity. "We should stay here where I know we can get some research done. You just want to defile that bed in your room with all sorts of unspeakable acts."

"You're one to talk," Haruka replied, waving one hand at the slowly-fading marks on the Venusian's wrists. "And I'll have you know that I am capable of making a decision without consulting my sex drive first."

Michiru giggled, slipping her arm through Haruka's. "Minako's right, we would be wise to remain here. If Sailor Pluto sensed our planets stir, she won't think to look for us here but she would quickly find us on the Moon."

Ami nodded. "True. And I can certainly break into the restricted Moon Royal Archives from Prince Endymion's uplink without a problem, so we won't have to worry about not having enough access."

"It's decided!" Serenity exclaimed, clearly happy to be allowed to spend more time with her prince. "Endymion's palace is beautiful; wait until you see it!"

"I'd rather see my bed," Haruka grumbled, silencing at the warning look in Michiru's dark eyes. "I know, plenty of time later."

"Don't worry Haruka; I'm well worth the wait."

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **AN:** I didn't write the vows; they were Haruka and Michiru's respective scenes from one of the drama CDs. This is now the longest chapter I believe and it was quite a challenge to write. I hope everything came out well and that you enjoyed it.
> 
> To everyone who favorites or follows my stories: thank you! I don't have time to list you all but I do love getting that email that someone else is eagerly awaiting my next chapter. I love reviews, especially seeing what you are thinking about where I am going with this story (since it is incredibly dynamic) but I appreciate all of my readers equally. So for everyone who reads in silence, everyone who reads and reviews, and everyone who gets an email alert when I post: **Thank You!**


	15. Hades Impact

**Chapter 15: Hades Impact**

* * *

_February 13, 8983_

* * *

"Are you okay?"

Setsuna slowly opened her eyes, pushing herself into a sitting position as Serenity leaned back to give her space. Sitting on the floor beside her, completely quiescent once more, the Garnet Orb whispered meaningless sounds into her mind. "I was unconscious?"

Her queen nodded. "There was a flash of golden light from your orb, then you collapsed. You've been out for almost ten minutes."

"Thank you for watching over me."

"Always," Serenity smiled, helping Sailor Pluto to her feet. The dark queen pulled her talisman into her hands again, but the moment of the vision had passed and the planets were all peacefully slumbering once more. "I don't know what that was, but it seemed familiar somehow."

"Do you think it has anything to do with Michiru's vision?"

Setsuna shrugged as she let her transformation fade. "I have no idea. I need to return to my palace and see if I can determine the source of that golden light." She tightened her fingers on her staff, garnet eyes distant as she stared into a future only she could hope to see. "I'll stop this destruction, Ser. I may not be allowed to have you, but I refuse to lose you." With a flash of garnet light, the Queen of Pluto vanished, leaving Serenity alone in her communications room once more.

* * *

Setsuna placed her staff on its stand against her throne, sighing as stared at her silent orb. What had she almost seen? Who were those shadowy figures, and what was that golden light that obscured her sight? "Yana, bring me newest data from the Time Stream." She didn't look at the young servant girl hovering at the base of her throne, accustomed to her presence after two years of loyal service. Setsuna knew that the other queens had always thought of her as lonely, but in reality she could never be alone. The stress of her duties forced her to keep servants nearby at all times, and the nobles of her court lived to help her guard the time gate. She was never alone, no matter how much her heart screamed at that illusion.

"At once, Majesty. Do you require something from the kitchens?"

Setsuna nodded absently, turning around and settling into her throne. It was actually quite comfortable, despite its onyx exterior, and she let herself relax into the plush dark cushions. "I suppose I am feeling a bit drained. Bring me some fruit and a cup of that Arrahi Bark Tea we imported from Uranus last month."

"At once, Majesty." Yana dashed away to the kitchens, never much for the formality of backing away from a monarch that was so prevalent in the other courts. Setsuna never demanded much from her servants or nobles, just basic respect and obedience. The endless ceremonies and traditions just bored her. Yana stopped by the computer beside the main entrance to the throne room, whispering something to the technician on duty before slipping through the small door in the shadows beside him. The tech extracted a data crystal from his computer and stood from his desk, walking across the room to Setsuna's throne and bowing briefly before walking up and handing it to her. Silently, he returned to his post, no expression on his face.

Setsuna inserted the data crystal into the arm of her throne, frowning as the time knot appeared in the air above her. "This image has a time stamp of two hours ago. Has there not been any new data since then?" Her words were calm, but her closest advisors and assistants recognized the anger coloring the edges of her tone.

One of her duchesses, Koshu's niece, shook her head as she looked up from her own computer screen. "We've been requesting new data from the Time Stream ever since, but there was this strange golden light not long ago that shut down every computer in the palace and locked the stream. We restored everything from the last backup two hours ago, but we cannot access anything live from the Time Gate now." Ayano's words were calm, almost emotionless as was proper for a Plutonian noble, but Setsuna could see the worry in her dark green eyes.

Setsuna stood from her throne and grabbed her staff, pointing the garnet orb at the Time Gate and focusing her powers. A thin stream of garnet energy reached from her to the tall gold-tinted silver doors in the center of the circle of computers and monitoring stations, slowly building in strength as the Time Gate remained stubbornly unresponsive. Frowning slightly, Setsuna used more power than she normally needed to control the streams of time, feeling the gate slowly begin to respond to her authority. With a loud scream of displeasure and a flash of garnet light, the time gate shed its gold coloring and returned to the simple silver it had always been. Shaking slightly from the exertion, Setsuna returned to her seat.

Ayano tapped a few commands on her keyboard, nodding as new numbers filled her screen. "Your computer should be receiving the new results, Majesty."

"Yes, I see them. Thank you." Setsuna watched the time knot appear before her again, many of the smaller, seemingly insignificant threads slowly splitting into two groups, on opposite sides of the tiny silver-gold dot that represented Helios. One group, led by the pink of the cupids, was joined by the dark thread that Setsuna had not been able to identify, while the other group gravitated toward the golden thread she was sure represented Haruka. "What is this?"

"Judging from their origin points earlier in the knot and from your hypothesis that the gold thread represents the Princess Haruka, we think that the colored threads near her are the other senshi. The blue one is most likely Princess Ami, the green one Princess Makoto, the red one Princess Rei, and the orange one Princess Minako. The aqua one is almost the same age as Princess Haruka's thread, but we can't identify it."

"And that's the one that seems to be the closest," Setsuna murmured. As she watched, threads from the cupid group reached out to grab the senshi, tightening the knot as the two groups began to struggle. "I don't understand what's going on now. Why would the cupids have any kind of conflict with the senshi?"

* * *

"It's nice enough, I suppose."

"Haruka."

"I said it was nice!" The blonde crossed her arms defensively over her chest, knowing that Michiru was scolding her for her tone and not her words. Rei chuckled as she led her lover into the palace, admiring the bamboo that had been used in the place of stone and wood in the architecture.

"This place _is_ nice. I could get used to these paper walls and bamboo floors."

Endymion nodded. "Every building here is like this, Rei. I've read about your planets' architecture and art, and I'm pretty sure you don't have anything like this. Ok, here we are. This is my communications room." He nodded at a pair of guards and slipped into the large room, seven princesses on his heels.

Ami stopped in the center of the room, an odd joy in her sapphire eyes as she spun in a circle with her arms held out. One wall of the room was covered in computers similar to the ones that had been used on the Moon hundreds of years earlier, while the other side of the room hosted a series of low tables covered in books, scrolls, and stone tablets. "How wonderful! I haven't been able to touch physical books in so many years!"

Minako settled onto a cushion in front of the main computer screen, tapping at the keys for a moment as she activated the link to the Moon Archives. "This system is functional but old. How long has it been here?"

"A few generations. We used to keep in contact with the Moon even though we are considered a nature sanctuary and not part of the kingdom, but eventually our ties with the Silver Millennium were severed. By us."

"Why?"

"We feared you," Endymion admitted truthfully, watching as the other princesses settled around the room, Ami and Michiru rifling through the books scattered on the table while Rei helped Minako scan through the computer system. Makoto and Haruka each chose a strategic position with an unobstructed view of the door, the warriors clearly on guard and uninterested in research. Serenity joined Endymion by the back wall, whispering some secret in his ear.

"Oh, interesting. Where are these tomes from?"

Endymion glanced at the book Ami held, craning his head to read the cover. "Those we discovered in an ancient vault some ten years ago. When the research team found them, we quickly realized that the language it's written in is one of yours. That was the main reason I began to learn your languages, and the one it most resembled was Lunarian."

"I see that you realized it isn't Lunarian," Ami commented, narrowing her eyes at the tiny print, letters far more complicated than the script used in the present day. "This is . . . this language is at least ten thousand years old. This certainly predates even the ancient languages of the Silver Millennium."

"Can you read it?"

Michiru leaned over Ami's shoulder, the two geniuses sighing in tandem. "Perhaps," Michiru murmured, running one fingernail gently across the page.

"Probably," Ami clarified. "This script is very similar to Ancient Lunarian, but very few people ever bother to study it. Nothing important was ever written in Ancient Lunarian. As a Scholar of Ancient Texts, I can read it, so perhaps I can muddle through this. I don't know if it's worth the effort, however."

Michiru twisted her wrist in that odd gesture that Haruka had seen her use before to summon her mirror. The talisman appeared in her palm and she turned it to face the book, blue eyes glowing with her power. "Submarine Reflection," she whispered, watching as the ancient runes reorganized themselves on the page, glowing with a brilliant white light. An image formed over the runes, the image of a grail, and just as swiftly vanished as the power from Michiru's mirror faded. "The runes have changed."

Ami nodded, touching the black lettering. "Yes, they have. Now they are all simple Ancient Lunarian, and I can read that. Why would they have changed?"

"Someone encoded it," Haruka offered from her position at the edge of the room. She was still pouting, arms crossed over her chest petulantly. Michiru glanced at her wife and raised one eyebrow, watching the blonde relax her stiff posture.

"Why would they do that?"

"Because it's something worth knowing," Makoto replied casually. "And possibly to hide the age of the book. You thought that the book was over ten thousand years old based on an unreadable language, but if it's written in Ancient Lunarian it could be only seven or eight thousand years old. I would say that information like that could help point us to the author."

Ami's eyes widened and she leaned over the book, Michiru's head beside hers. Pulling out her computer, Ami began to translate the text, sharing her thoughts with her fellow water senshi. Minako and Rei ignored the pair reading through physical books, glancing through thousands of years of records in the digital archives, searching for instances of the planets misbehaving like Uranus and Neptune had earlier. An eerie silence descended on the room, Haruka boring of it first. With a competitive light in her emerald eyes, she scooted forward to a low table and placed her elbow on the wood, her hand in the air as she silently challenged Makoto. Smiling, the thunder senshi scooted forward to sit on the cushion opposite Haruka, taking the blonde's hand in hers, confident that she could beat the Uranian in arm wrestling. Grunting, she pushed against Haruka's hand, using all of her Jovian strength to defeat the blonde, but the Uranian was stronger than Makoto had expected. Several long, tense minutes passed as the warriors vied for supremacy.

Ami gasped in shock at the same moment that Makoto slammed Haruka's hand onto the surface of the table, the Jovian leaping to her feet in joy at the victory she had won. The look on her lover's face froze her celebration, everyone turning to Ami as she pushed herself to her feet. "I know why they encoded this book."

"Why?"

"These are prophecies from the beginning of the Silver Millennium, first spoken almost ten thousand years ago, though the book itself is not nearly that old. I recognize some of these names from my history lessons, and most of these were only spoken once. It was thought that they had never been written, but here they all are. This is the Prophecy of Serenity's Rise, the Prophecy of the Messiah of Light, the Prophecy of the Silence, the Prophecy of the Shattered Star, and . . . and this one is the original Prophecy of the Fall of the Silver Millennium."

"What!?"

"It's right here," Michiru whispered, her hands shaking slightly as she held the book out for everyone to see. "The Ancient Law is part of this prophecy, but it's not all of it. Here, let me read the translation to you. _The Moon will Rise over a great kingdom, shining in the sky for thousands of years, until the day that the Sun turns in its sleep. It will Call but no one will be able to answer. On that day, the Sun will cry as dark blood soaks the ground and loneliness grips the Dark One. The galaxy will be consumed by the Scream of Time and the Silver Moon will fall to the Earth in a harvest of desperate ruin when the lights of two star seeds combine. The capricious Tear will shatter its last and only the Golden Light of dreams can preserve the hopes of the future."_

"That's . . . not the same as the Ancient Plutonian translation."

"It's the original," Ami replied, staring at her screen. "This bit, _star seed_ , refers to the power a senshi carries that gives her power over her planet. The seed is inside us, in our hearts, and the more powerful a person the stronger their star seed. We have pure ones, perfect ones, when our planets are at full power, and that word is usually translated into _jahjku_ in Ancient Plutonian."

"What does it mean when it says they will combine?"

Ami shrugged. "It's not like the prophecies have footnotes. I don't think it means for the senshi to physically combine, but something more abstract and something that involves the planets. What I want to know is what it means when the Sun Calls."

"It could mean when it calls for a senshi," Minako replied, pointing at an image on her screen. "I used the codes you gave me to hack into certain sealed files, and it seems that this solar system had a Star Senshi in the past, at least twice and possibly three times. She was called Sailor Sol, and she was the leader of the Star Senshi Council before it was shattered. This image is the first Sailor Sol, the one who united the Star Senshi Council originally almost ten thousand years ago. She had a twin sister who became the first Queen Serenity."

"Does that mean another Sailor Sol is coming soon?"

"I think it means the opposite," Michiru whispered ominously. "It means that Sailor Sol can't be called, that something is preventing it. There hasn't been one since Sailor Pluto had the other senshi remove their keystones, so perhaps the planets are needed to create a star senshi. Perhaps the Golden Light means Sailor Sol, and if we can help our sun create a senshi the Silver Millennium will not fall."

"What does the rest of it mean? Who is the Dark One, what is the Scream of Time, and what is the capricious Tear?"

Endymion's question silenced the room, Haruka offering the first answer after many tense minutes. "The Dark One is Sailor Pluto. She's always been referred to like that. And she is lonely, but I don't think the prophecy refers to her normal level of loneliness. The Scream of Time probably refers to her, as well, since that is her power. The Tear . . . I don't know about that."

"I think it means the ginzuishou," Serenity whispered, blue eyes clouded. "Mother once told me a fable about the ginzuishou. She said the first Queen Serenity struggled to unite the nine kingdoms but no one would recognize her power. On the day her twin sister died, she cried a single silver tear, and it called forth the power of the planets, binding them together within itself. That tear became the ginzuishou, and it has the power to unite everyone's hearts in a crisis because it was born from a woman's love for her sister. But its power isn't easy to wield, and it has the ability to destroy everything. I guess capricious would be a good word to describe it."

"So what do we do? Having the information and a partial understanding of the prophecy does not help us in the least. We need to understand the whole thing," Minako pointed out. "Tell us the other prophecies."

"Ok. _In the darkest hour, when all hope is lost, a Messiah of Light will rise. She will have power without end, love without reserve, and strength beyond measure. When the Three Talismans gather, they will light the way to her birth._ I'm not sure if this Messiah will be able to help us, since this is pretty vague. The word for talisman here is _kjhairt_ , which is different than the standard word for talisman, _kihairt_. I think that it refers to the Trio imbued with greater powers than the others."

"The Sword, the Mirror, and the Orb," Haruka murmured, watching Ami and Michiru nod in agreement. "But those three talismans have certainly gathered a lot recently, and nothing has happened."

"Well, I think that prophecy is linked to this one. It has a poetic meter to it.

  
_Scattered to the harsh Winds of Time_   
_Bound by a desperate thought;_   
_She will seek rebirth when all hope is gone_   
_And all love at last is lost._   
_The Sword will scream, the Mirror break,_   
_And the Orb will mourn them all;_   
_Three talismans crossed will summon the Grail_   
_And release her tortured soul._

This one is called the Prophecy of Serenity's Rise, and I believe that it refers to the goddess twin of Tranquility, leader of the Cupids."

Haruka slipped her sword from its scabbard, staring at the reflective surface silently. "I know what that part means, about the shattered sword. I read an article by one of the foremost Plutonian experts on Ancient Texts referencing certain very old books that had been lost to time. It said that a common phrase kept appearing over and over again in the translations of the lost text, something about a broken sword, a shattered mirror, and a crying orb. She hypothesized that it referred to the three Talismans of the Outer Senshi, and that it meant two of them would die."

"Die? Talismans can't die, just be passed on to the next wielder."

"In general, I would agree with you, Minako, but what if there was no one else? What if the owner of a talisman died with no heir?"

Ami glanced at Michiru, the Neptunian's eyes sad. "If it happened," Michiru whispered, "the talismans have the ability to join with the planet crystal and wait for the senshi's rebirth. If that is the case . . . this prophecy says that the senshi of Uranus and Neptune would have to die for Serenity to be reborn."

"Are we going to die?" Haruka's whispered question revealed her confusion and dread. She knew better than the other senshi how dangerous and reckless her union to Michiru could be, despite her brave words to the contrary. Saturn was stirring and her planet was flexing its powers, but did those signs mean that the Silver Millennium was destined to fall? Or were their actions the only things that could prevent it?

Michiru handed her book to Ami and walked over to her wife, pulling the blonde to her feet. "Of course we are," she whispered gently, "but not today."

While the Outer Senshi held each other silently, Ami translated another page, walking over to the computer and showing the book to Minako and Rei. "This one refers to Sailor Sol, I believe. _The Silver One cannot return until the Moonlight shines in the Darkness and the Wind and the Sea give birth to the Sun. On that day, her soul will awaken from its host and herald the destruction of the Earth and the dawn of a new crystal._ I'm sorry about this last part, but there is a word here that is not part of any language. It says 'Crystal something' but I have no idea what the word is."

Rei pushed herself away from the computer, amethyst eyes wide in shock. "This isn't the first time the planets have tried to combine their powers."

Minako leaned over her lover's shoulder in order to better see the screen, shaking her head in disbelief. "I hate to break it to you, Haruka, but you are not the first senshi married to her lover do that lightshow with the planetary powers."

Haruka released Michiru, taking her hand and joining the fire and love senshi by the computer screen. "Oh, last time it was Mars and Venus, huh? What happened?"

"Well, this was before the keystones were removed. It seems like the planets tried to combine their powers when the senshi were many decades older than us, but Sailor Pluto was able to subdue them. They went off to Antares to quell the Uprising after that and then . . . oh. Pluto had them remove their keystones because the planets were getting too powerful. It says here that the planets were moving on their own, flexing their own powers, and even Pluto was worried. Saturn's power has always been held in check by the edicts imposed on it by the gods, and Pluto is in a very similar situation, but the other planets are described as wild, unfettered children of their patron gods."

"Are the henshin sticks to control the planets, then?"

"I think so," Rei murmured, scanning the screen. "This stuff is highly encrypted and what isn't hidden behind a hundred passwords is too complicated to understand. Also, it looks a little sanitized, if you know what I mean. I think someone altered and simplified these history files some years after the events. From what I can see here, I think that the keystones were actually created . . . from the blood or maybe tears of the patron gods of each planet. They exist . . . well, it seems that they actually _are_ keys of a sort but they are completely separate from the crystals, and they have something to do with keeping the henshin sticks active even though the planets slumber. Together, they control the way we senshi link to our planets and they are able to subdue that bond enough to prevent us from unlocking our full powers."

"I thought the keystones were part of the planet crystals originally? Everything we've read says they were removed, implying that they were part of the crystals."

Ami leaned over Rei's shoulder as the fire senshi searched for the answer to Makoto's question. Ami tapped a few keys with her free hand, the other still holding the book of prophecies awkwardly to one side, smiling as another screen appeared to replace the one Rei had been frowning at. "That should help. These are the Royal Pluto Records."

"How did you hack into that? Pluto guards those files even more viciously than she guards the Time Gate!"

"Yes, Serenity, but five years ago she upgraded her computer file storage system to the new Mercurian Standard and I was assigned to the project as a recently graduated Scholar in Computer Technology. I may have put a backdoor password into the system so that I could read some of the more fascinating sagas that were sealed by a previous Queen of Pluto . . ." She looked up at her friends' shocked expressions, blushing as she backed away from the computer. "I guess that's not something you would have expected."

"The curiosity, yes," Makoto replied, wrapping one strong arm around Ami's waist. "As for the sneakiness . . . I like that there are things about you that surprise me."

Rei cleared her throat as she scanned through the new documents. "It seems that Pluto used the keystones and henshin sticks as locks to seal away the planet crystals, thus denying the planets their full power. She told the queens that the keystones were part of their crystals so that they would never go looking for the planet crystals. There's a list here, six coordinates, each with a different planetary signature. Mercury: Daire Basin, Venus: Sunrise Bay, Mars: Deimos's Kirash Crater, Jupiter: Metis's Tosha Plains, Uranus: Miranda's Chime Cliffs, and Neptune: Larissa's Coral Sea."

"Are those where the planet crystals are hidden?"

"Perhaps. If Pluto really did hide the planet crystals thousands of years ago, she would have had to place them either on the planets or in close orbit, otherwise the planets would suffer from the separation. The crystals are part of the planets' life forces, so they cannot be kept far away if the planets are to remain sealed."

Haruka leaned over Rei's shoulder, letting her breast brush the smaller woman's cheek so she could watch a blush spread across her face. "If the princess of Mars from that time period married the princess of Venus, how is it that your two royal lines are still intact? Two women cannot have a child." She kept her register low and focused on the husky tone she used when she wanted to attract a woman, grinning as Rei's blush darkened.

"Do you mind? I can't concentrate with your breasts in my face. This was never a problem when you wore men's clothing."

Haruka felt a gentle hand land on her shoulder and pull her away from the fire senshi, Michiru wrapping her arms possessively around the tall blonde. "Behave," the teal-eyed princess whispered, resting one hand on Haruka's breast. At her wife's sharp intake of breath, Michiru giggled, enjoying the effect she was having on the blonde.

"Well, back to Haruka's question, it seems that both women eventually had children. Queen Mars took one of Venus's brothers as her consort and Queen Venus did the same with Mars's second cousin."

"Consort? Isn't that just a glorified name for the leader of a harem?"

"No, Makoto, it's more prestigious than that. A Consort is a position just below the queen's spouse, reserved for the cases when the official spouse is incapable of breeding an heir. They are usually related to the spouse so that the child is as close as possible to what the couple would have birthed. For the spouse of a reigning queen to be a woman is uncommon, but among the lower nobles it is not. It seems that before the keystones were removed—or created or whatever the story is—it was more common for queens to have wives and consorts instead of husbands."

"So if we find our planet crystals and reawaken them, the queens would have to accept my marriage to Michiru." Ami shrugged and nodded, glancing at the file on Rei's screen before determining that Haruka's hypothesis was correct. "I don't like the idea of some man sleeping with my wife, no matter how he is related to me."

"It's not like you've slept with me yet, yourself," Michiru reminded the blonde, watching in amusement as the other princesses blushed at the mental image her words conjured.

Haruka raised her hand to Michiru's cheek, accepting the teasing tone as she replied in the only way that would satisfy the jealous Uranian warrior within. "Perhaps, but I have seen you naked, and that is an honor that no man will ever know."

Ami cleared her throat nervously as she returned to the book of prophecies, scanning the pages into her computer in case anything happened to the ancient tome. Like any good Mercurian, she used books to hide her embarrassment. "You don't have to worry about a man sleeping with your wife. The animal scientists on my planet have made remarkable progress in the realm of reproductive medicine. They can use the sperm from a donor male to impregnate a female through a process called artificial insemination. By timing the insemination to the correct point in the female's reproductive cycle, the pregnancy rate of this method is phenomenally high. We've implemented the process in livestock species across the solar system and many time for Mercurian couples struggling with infertility issues."

"It sounds very . . . clinical."

"It sounds like a great idea," Minako replied, her eyes focused on her lover. "I'm sure the only reason we have a ban against noble women getting married is because they can't continue their lineages with a wife, but a consort solves the entire problem, and Ami's artificial insemination solution would prevent any problems with our partners' very possessive natures. The last thing I need is a char-broiled body in my bed."

Her words dissipated the last of the tension that had been building since the reading of the first prophecy, and the princesses settled down around the room once more. Having watched and listened silently from his position as the seat cushion of an unusually silent High Princess, Endymion smiled. He was beginning to like these senshi, and he was even beginning to empathize with them concerning their desire to marry the women they loved and be together despite laws that were trying to force them apart. He knew that despite his efforts to forge an alliance with the Moon, nothing would ever be easy for him and Serenity, either, and his people would always resent him for loving a Lunarian. These senshi had more difficult hurdles to overcome than he did, and being with them while they debated the meanings of some of the most obscure prophecies and writings made him feel like they might one day get past it all. Perhaps they could all be happy.

* * *

"Princess! Your mother has been looking for you!"

"Oh?" Serenity turned on one heel, her blue eyes narrowed in annoyance at the excitable servant running toward her with no regard for her station or the sanctity of her palace. The young boy blanched at the look in her eyes, falling to his shaking knees in terror.

"P-please f-forgive my rudeness, Your Highness, but Her Majesty the High Queen Serenity r-requests your presence in her chambers as soon as you are ready."

"Very well. My guardians will escort me there now."

"Yes, Your Highness." The servant stumbled to his feet and bowed, backing away until he rounded the corner of the hallway. Serenity giggled as she heard him break into a run as soon as he was out of sight.

"So cruel, princess."

"I know, Haruka, but some of my mother's newer servants lack discipline. That one used to be a novice at the Temple of Serenity but he lacked the requisite faith to become a cupid. Now he is here, forgetting his manners." She turned to her senshi, glancing at each of them for a moment before speaking again. They had spent almost a dozen hours on Earth reading the ancient books that had been hidden there thousands of years earlier, comparing many of the prophecies with information from the Royal Archives as they planned expeditions to each of their planets to search for their crystals. They were all exhausted, a condition that would be apparent to the queen, though they had grabbed a late-night snack from the kitchens on their way to the royal wing. "Do you think you can face her?"

"We don't have to say anything, princess. Only you have to be able to talk. You know that she was privy to at least some of this information, and as a close friend of Setsuna's, she probably knew most of it. She has hidden this, not just from us but from our mothers too when it could have made them happy. Can you keep her from suspecting until after we find our planet crystals?"

"I can, Minako. Alright, let's go."

Serenity led the group to her mother's chambers, two inner senshi on each side and her outers walking behind her. She knew that they were eager to return to their chambers and begin what little honeymoon they could have in a solar system on the brink of destruction, but they still marched behind her because she was their princess and their first duty would always be to her. "I love you guys," she murmured.

"We know," Minako replied instantly, as if the sentiment had been expected.

"We'll be together forever, won't we?"

"Of course we will," Rei whispered, brushing her crimson hair over her shoulder with a grin. "As if you could get rid of us so easily."

Serenity smiled as the group reached Queen Serenity's chamber, raising her hand to knock on the door. "I'm glad."

"Enter."

Serenity pushed the door open, leading her senshi into the main room of her mother's suite, dropping into a curtsy as her senshi followed suit. Behind her, Michiru offered a shallow curtsy since the size of her pale dress would not allow anything deeper, and Haruka bowed. Queen Setsuna, relaxing on her low couch, smiled at her daughter. "So you're home. I was worried when I couldn't find you for lunch or supper."

"I'm sorry, Mother, but we were very busy. Ruka was helping everyone learn power combinations that were unusual, so it took a long time for everyone to get used to them. We went to that old training field on the other side of the Sea of Serenity so that any mistakes would not result in structural damage to the palace."

The queen nodded. "I see. It was good thinking, though I wish you had told me. So you asked Rukaze to go right back to training your senshi even though he's been gone for a while? Do you think that was the right decision?"

"Ruka is an important part of my team," Serenity replied evasively. "I don't think you should be upset that my senshi have a capable teacher."

"I'm not, but I just want to make sure that he is the right choice."

"You don't have to worry about that," the princess replied, smiling softly. "Ruka has decided that my senshi should practice fighting and surviving in other environments. The Moon is too tame and they need to learn various terrain styles so that nothing can ever surprise them. We are leaving in the morning for Mercury."

"We? You're going with them?" The queen leaned forward, lavender eyes narrowed. "I don't think that's a good idea."

"My place is with my senshi. It's not like we'll lack for accommodations nor is there any danger on any of the planets in our kingdom, so I will be just as safe on Mercury or Uranus as I would be here. Besides, Minako tells me that having me nearby gives them a better reason to fight."

"This is the sort of situation where you should ask permission to accompany your senshi instead of telling me after you've already made up your mind. I don't like it when you keep me in the dark about your plans."

Princess Serenity straightened, all of her senshi instantly on alert. The queen watched, impressed with their instinctive reaction to her daughter's sudden change of emotion. "I'm not sure I appreciate being kept in the dark, either, Mother. I may be only fourteen, but I am old enough to understand that our kingdom is in danger and none of the senshi have even identified the threat. When were you planning on telling me about the meeting on Titan and the possibility of Saturn rising?"

The queen froze, shock in her eyes. "How did you know?"

"Does it matter? Why didn't you tell me?"

"I didn't want to worry you. Pluto said that there have been many instances of a girl showing signs of awakening as Saturn but never transforming because the other senshi neutralized the threat that called her. This time will be no different, I am sure. Pluto and the rest of the senshi can handle this without bothering you."

"The rest of the senshi are young," Haruka replied, shocked to hear herself speaking but unwilling to stop. "They haven't fought back demons on the plains of Pluto or wielded their power for thirty and more years, and they aren't comfortable being partners yet. Pluto has no idea what the threat is, and you are willing to throw a group of teenagers at a great darkness and hope for the best?"

"Rei defeated her mother in single combat, Minako summoned her own transformation to save a life, Makoto won a highly prestigious tournament at the age of thirteen, and Ami is a genius with seven Scholar degrees. They are more powerful as children than their parents are as adults, and the only thing they lack is experience. They can fight this coming darkness and prevent the rise of Saturn."

"Not if you won't let me train them properly. If we do not travel to the other worlds and spend some time in the wildernesses there, these senshi will not be strong enough to win. We only need a few days."

The queen seemed to consider Haruka's speech, her respect for the tall Uranian warrior growing. He wasn't afraid to talk to her as an equal, as if he were a queen, and he was the finest teacher Serenity's senshi could ever ask for. "Fine, go then. But you are all expected on Titan at the end of the week. Serenity, you can travel with them, but I would like to know when you plan to return."

"The senshi have all agreed to attend my birthday party in three weeks," Michiru replied, her elegant voice carrying the perfect mixture of request and demand. "If you allow it, I would like for the princess to attend, as well. All of the royal families will be expected in Triton Castle, and I know that you are busy with affairs of state, so I believe that it would be appropriate for your daughter to visit Neptune as the representative of the Moon."

Queen Serenity nodded slowly. "That will be fine. As long as all of you are with her until then, I have no problem with her traveling. Please bring her back after your party, Neptune Michiru."

"Of course, Your Majesty."

* * *

"So, we're all invited?"

Michiru smiled and tilted her head to the side, too ladylike to shrug her shoulders. "I was going to tell you eventually, Rei. Either way, your parents would have told you when they received the invitations tomorrow. Mother wants to make a very public statement by introducing me with a husband."

"Not the husband she had planned," Minako pointed out. "How long do you two think you can keep it from her?"

"Long enough," Haruka replied, slipping one arm around her wife's waist. Her emerald eyes had shed all trace of exhaustion after the impromptu meeting with the queen, and she was staring at Michiru in a way that let the other princesses know it would be a good time to vacate the room. Minako walked Serenity to the door of the suite and sent her to bed, grabbing Rei's hand and retreating to their room, while Makoto scooped Ami into her arms and ran for the other side of the guest chambers. The wind senshi and her partner of the sea never noticed the suddenly empty meeting room as they leaned close enough to kiss once more.

Haruka pushed Michiru toward their room, blindly guiding the aquanette around the couches and table, never losing contact with the smaller woman. Entering the room, she kicked the door closed with one foot, her hands busy removing the pins from Michiru's hair, allowing it to flow like a waterfall over her shoulders once more. Not to be outdone, Michiru grabbed Haruka's jacket and pushed it back, forcing the blonde to slip her arms free and let it drop to the floor. Michiru's dress followed moments later, the Neptunian taking a moment to consider the mess Haruka was making of the room before the blonde captured her attention once more by pushing her onto the bed.

Michiru giggled as Haruka's weight settled on top of her, reaching up to brush away the blonde hair covering her wife's emerald eyes. She let her hands wander lower to the buttons of Haruka's shirt, removing the garment and letting it join the jacket on the floor. "You're beautiful, Haruka," she whispered, eyes sapphire in the dim light. "I'm glad you're mine."

"My, how possessive, my lovely siren." Haruka grinned as she kissed Michiru just above her collarbone, one hand wandering to the smaller woman's breasts. "As a Uranian woman and a queen, I never thought I would say this, but I'm glad I'm yours, too."

* * *

Rei groaned and rolled onto her side, covering her ears with one of the extra pillows in a vain attempt to block out the noise. Beside her, buried under the covers, Minako giggled. "It's not funny."

"No, it's romantic," the blonde replied, keeping her voice to a whisper. "And it's not like we were polite last night; they had to sleep through that."

"Clearly, they are making up for that celibacy." Rei pushed herself into a sitting position, head tilted to one side. "What's that noise? It sounds like . . . by Serenity, is that Ami?!"

Minako nodded, blushing slightly. "I think so. It seems like Makoto and Ami are just as desperate to drown out the honeymooners as you are."

"Yeah, but they aren't sharing a wall with that pair." Rei held out one hand, palm up, across the small space that separated her from the blonde. "Give me your chain."

"Why?" Even as she asked the question, Minako summoned her talisman, passing it to the redhead and trying desperately not to blush.

"Because," Rei replied, reaching out to gently wrap the chain around Minako's wrists, "I'd much rather hear you scream than Haruka."

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **AN:** Sorry if this chapter was a big history lesson but it has huge relevance, I promise (there's actually some foreshadowing when they are talking about the prophecies if you can catch it). We only have a few days until Titan, so the senshi will be on a quest until then! Also, I wanted to mention something. I took Japanese for years from middle school through college (though I understand a lot more than I can speak) so there are certain words that just don't exist for me in English. When I watch the anime or the musical and I hear the word _min'na_ , I don't translate it in my head to "everyone". I just understand it as it is. There are a lot of words like that, including _senshi_ and _henshin_ , so in my fics those words will probably always be written in Japanese. There was a part of _In the Darkest Forest_ where I was quoting the episode and Usagi said "min'na" and I couldn't bring myself to translate it. Even in this fic it's hard not to throw in _ara, mou,_ and _maa_ when I know Michiru would say it if it were her dialogue in the episode. I just thought you guys should know why there is still so much Japanese in a fic that predates the modern language.


	16. Mercury Aqua Rhapsody

**Chapter 16: Mercury Aqua Rhapsody**

* * *

_February 13, 8983 – February 14, 8983_

* * *

Haruka pushed Michiru toward their room, blindly guiding the aquanette around the couches and table, never losing contact with the smaller woman. Entering the room, she kicked the door closed with one foot, her hands busy removing the pins from Michiru's hair, allowing it to flow like a waterfall over her shoulders once more. Not to be outdone, Michiru grabbed Haruka's jacket and pushed it back, forcing the blonde to slip her arms free and let it drop to the floor. Michiru's dress followed moments later, the Neptunian taking a moment to consider the mess Haruka was making of the room before the blonde captured her attention once more by pushing her onto the bed.

Michiru giggled as Haruka's weight settled on top of her, reaching up to brush away the blonde hair covering her wife's emerald eyes. She let her hands wander lower to the buttons of Haruka's shirt, removing the garment and letting it join the jacket on the floor. "You're beautiful, Haruka," she whispered, eyes sapphire in the dim light. "I'm glad you're mine."

"My, how possessive, my lovely siren." Haruka grinned as she kissed Michiru just above her collarbone, one hand wandering to the smaller woman's breasts. "As a Uranian woman and a queen, I never thought I would say this, but I'm glad I'm yours, too."

Michiru arched into Haruka's touch, the taller woman quickly removing the last of her garments with her free hand. It wasn't the first time they had seen each other naked or even the first time they had touched, but their bodies knew that this time was different. She felt Haruka pull back for a moment, and she opened her eyes, a little surprised to find that they were closed. The blonde was watching her, emerald eyes sparkling gold with lust and something else, something stronger than Michiru had ever sensed from her before. "Like what you see?" The gold in Haruka's eyes darkened again, and Michiru giggled. "I'll take that as a yes."

Haruka growled and leaned down again, catching one of Michiru's nipples in her teeth and pulling gently. She instinctively arched her back to relieve the pain, eyes widening as Haruka's hand ghosted across her belly and came to rest on her thigh. Michiru caught her breath, every muscle in her body tense as she silently begged Haruka to touch her where she needed. Emerald eyes rose from their examination of Michiru's breasts and the blonde grinned, her fingers ghosting across her lover's inner thigh. "Do you want something?"

"Don't tease me," Michiru breathed. "I've waited fourteen years for this and you cannot deny me now."

"Fourteen years?" Her voice was husky and teasing, her fingers still dancing around Michiru's core, refusing to touch the smaller woman where she needed it most.

Teal eyes narrowed in annoyance, Michiru reached down and grabbed Haruka's hands, cocking one leg and rolling over on top of the blonde, pinning her to the bed. She wrapped Haruka's fingers around the bedposts, running her fingers down the smooth skin of her wife's muscled arms. "Don't let go or you'll spend the rest of the night in the other bedroom. Do I make myself clear?" Haruka nodded meekly, a blush slowly spreading down her chest, watching silently as Michiru playfully cupped her breasts. "Someone likes to be dominated," Michiru murmured, leaning down to bite Haruka's nipple. She pulled away, running her fingers over the uneven red circle painting her lover's tanned skin, giggling when the blonde purred. Pushing herself to her knees, she scooted forward until Haruka's head was trapped between her thighs, the blonde's breath teasing her as she hovered there. "You've spent weeks teasing me and flirting with every princess you meet. Let's see if we can find a better use for your mouth," Michiru whispered, blushing at her own words.

Haruka did not need to be told twice. Leaning up slightly for a better angle, she ran her tongue across her lover's womanhood, tasting her essence and smiling at the flavor. She felt Michiru tremble above her as she dove in again, burying her tongue inside her lover, her nose just barely touching her clit.

Michiru could barely think, unable to concentrate on anything other than the tongue dancing inside her. Waves of heat filled her frame every time Haruka moved, followed by shocks of cold when her nose bumped Michiru's clit. Her senshi strength flaring as the first tremors of approaching orgasm filled her, Michiru clenched the headboard of the bed hard enough to leave marks, past being able to care. Haruka could sense she was close, knew what the tense muscles and ragged breaths meant, so she slipped her tongue free and wrapped her lips around Michiru's clit, offering the lightest of bites. The senshi of the seas didn't scream when she came, or even offer an involuntary cry; she managed only a breathy whimper that vaguely resembled the whisper of a wave across the sand as she collapsed.

Haruka caught her wife as she crumpled, strong arms holding the trembling woman as the evidence of her orgasm coated the blonde's stomach. "Did that please you?"

Michiru smiled, her eyes sapphire in the dim light. "How can you even ask that?" Michiru slipped out of Haruka's arms and scooted down the blonde's body, pointing at the bed posts again. Obediently, Haruka returned her hands to their former position, gold-emerald eyes watching as Michiru kissed a trail from her navel to her hip, skirting her core and turning her attention to the blonde's inner thigh. "I distinctly remember telling you not to let go," she whispered, her lips moving against the soft skin just beside Haruka's knee. "Someone needs to be punished." Haruka trembled in anticipation, throwing her head back with a groan as Michiru sunk her teeth into her inner thigh. Kissing the angry red mark she had made, Michiru moved higher and bit again, using one arm to prevent the blonde from bucking her hips. She continued her steady path across Haruka's inner thigh, leaving a trail of violent red marks behind. She reached Haruka's womanhood, the heady scent of the blonde's arousal almost driving her crazy, and she paused for a moment.

Haruka let out a needy growl, bucking her hips despite the arm holding her down, desperate for her lover to continue. The pain from the bites only served to turn her on more, and desperation had turned her emerald eyes almost completely gold. Michiru's sapphire-teal eyes met Haruka's emerald-gold and she relented, burying her fingers inside her lover. Haruka arched her back and cried out, her body shaking from the force of her unexpected orgasm. Surprised, Michiru nevertheless continued to pump her fingers, sucking on her lover's clit to send her into a second and third repeat of ecstasy.

Michiru slowly pulled her fingers free, crawling across the bed until she could stretch out beside the trembling blonde, wrapping her arms around her lover's waist. Haruka opened her eyes, seeing the question in Michiru's eyes and answering before the smaller woman could even ask. "Fourteen years," she whispered, "and two very long weeks."

"When you said that we couldn't because of the mission . . . you wanted to, didn't you? As much as I did."

"Of course. Just the thought of having you inside me . . . well you can see what just the thought did to me." She tilted her head and glanced at where her fingers wrapped around the bed posts, the wood warped from the pressure she had exerted on it in the throes of passion. "I don't think the bed frame will survive another round. We should probably leave it out of this from now on." She released the tortured wood, wrapping her arms around Michiru's slender form and pulling her closer, running her finger across her back. Michiru moaned into Haruka's ear, leaning down to nibble on the blonde's neck, slowly shifting her weight to put herself on top once more.

Haruka had other plans. Moving faster than Michiru could counteract, the blonde flipped her over on her back, knees on either side of her legs, one hand tangled in her aqua locks and the other resting on her breast. "Change of plans," she purred. "It's my turn to make you scream." Michiru arched her back as the fingers that had been toying with her hair danced down her body and entered her, long fingers searching for every pleasure point she had. With another needy whimper, she surrendered to her lover's demanding pace.

Hours later, minutes before the artificial sun rose in the sky, Michiru curled against Haruka's side, fingers tracing the bruises she had left on Haruka's breast, her eyes almost closed. The blonde was closer to sleep than she was, the warrior completely drained of energy, but she managed to open one eye when Michiru pinched her nipple. _Go to sleep,_ she mouthed, not sure if she had any voice left after the last few hours. No matter how much she had tried, the Neptunian had never been loud at all, and Haruka found herself hoarse from the vocalizations that Michiru had expertly drawn from her again and again.

"Hey, Haruka." The blonde raised one eyebrow, and Michiru smiled, closing her eyes and cuddling closer to her wife. "I like your hands."

* * *

Rei wasn't used to being the first senshi awake. As she sat in the suite, her crimson hair already dry from her bath, she browsed the recent news streams from her planet. Kazan had started courting some famous dancer from Venus, and Momoiro was entertaining suitors from Pluto. Rei shook her head as she read about her sister, knowing that the people of the ninth planet were far too calm and silent for a passionate Martian's partner. Still, Setsuna seemed to have a hidden side so perhaps her people were not as dark as the rest of the system believed. Sipping her tea, she switched to the current feed from Venus, glancing through a few holograms of Minako's younger twin sisters at an outing in Sunrise Bay, skimming through a speech by Queen Asakaze before switching planets again. She knew that her lover's mother was doing her best to downplay Minako's inability to bring home a suitable soul mate, but the gossip columns on her planet—and Venus had more _gossip_ than actual _news_ —had already begun to speculate that their princess had taken a female lover. Rei hoped that it would just stay gossip, but it would be hard to travel to all of the planets looking for the crystals and sleep alone every night to keep up appearances.

Mercury only had one news source, the official one published by the palace. The people of Ami's world had no use for gossip or sensational news, so everything was reported with a very dry, clinical style that succeeded in transmitting the information but bored the Martian to tears. Still, she forced herself to read through the main articles, noting that one of Ami's duchess cousins had become romantically involved with a Uranian actress in the closest thing to a scandal the planet could produce, while her twin siblings had begun to attend public functions with their parents. Kaichou, as the High Prince, stood very tall and solemn next to his mother, his blue and green hair perfectly combed and his silver eyes focusing on the crowd while Amami made a speech about unity among the planets. His unruly purple-eyed sister, Hakuchou, shared Ami's dark blue hair, though strands of white highlighted the dark mass, and she was clearly not interested in her mother's speech at all.

She skipped to Jupiter's news while she refilled her cup, reading about the upcoming Ganymede Invitational Tournament and the entrants from across the system, Makoto's youngest brother Saiki the favorite contender. Saturn's news was almost non-existent, a communications blackout mirroring the fear implied by the closed spaceports and the upcoming meeting on Titan. The rest of the kingdom continued to conduct life as usual while Saturn prepared for the worst and the senshi trained every waking minute. Not in the mood to be reminded about the possibility of an apocalypse, Rei switched to the Uranian news feeds. Koshu had returned to his planet the day before in shame without his daughter, and the War Queens had begun to demand his immediate resignation. As a native of Pluto, his only claim to the throne was through Kazeko and her daughter, but without Haruka by his side the Queens no longer trusted him to be their king. Three of the ten War Queens sided with the King, urging patience and trying to convince the public that Princess Haruka would return in time, but the other seven were convinced that she had been kidnapped by a splinter faction opposed to the ruling class and that only the combined might of the Queens' fleets could find her.

"This could be bad."

"What could?" Minako, her skin still pink from her hot bath, joined Rei on the couch and poured herself a cup of tea, leaning over her lover's shoulder to read the news. "You got up early."

"I had strange dreams. Something is coming."

"Maybe you are finally sensing Michiru's premonition."

"Very likely. But this news from Uranus is worrisome. The War Queens are trying to take over the planet so they can search for Haruka without Koshu's interference."

"They've always been a handful," a sleepy voice noted as Makoto and Ami emerged from their room. The Mercurian looked drained, as if she hadn't gotten any rest, but the sparkle in her sapphire eyes indicated that she had enjoyed her night too much to care. Clearly, despite her exertion the night before, her mind was still as sharp as ever. "My mother says that the queens voted twenty-one years ago on whether it was safe to leave Koshu in charge of Uranus in his daughter's name. A planet of very powerful, very self-assured warrior women does not easily take orders from a man and a foreigner, but Setsuna convinced the other queens that it would work out. If the War Queens are becoming restless, then Haruka might have to go home to calm them."

"Three of the most powerful War Queens are advocating patience," Rei pointed out, reading the names from the news report, even though she knew nothing about the three women. "Fourth Ono Hikari, Second Kimura Sanae, and First Endou Ado. As long as they can sway the other ones, Koshu will keep his throne. I'm sure he's desperate for Haruka to return by now, however."

"Speaking of our Uranian sister . . . is she still asleep?"

Minako rolled her eyes as Ami's innocent question, her amusement echoed by the two warriors. "Michiru wore her out. She's probably hoarse from all the screaming and too sore to even get out of bed. We . . . fell asleep an hour or so after midnight, and they were still going at it."

"They probably just want to make the most of whatever time they have," Rei replied, her amethyst eyes unfocused as she began to imagine the queens' reactions to the secret Earth wedding. "Once Shousha and Setsuna find out what they did, there could be trouble for them. Maybe we should go grab a quick breakfast and teleport to Mercury with Serenity. If we leave a note, they can join us when they regain their strength."

"Good plan, Mars. Everyone, let's gather whatever supplies we will need for a week and get moving." The other senshi nodded at Minako's order, heading to their rooms for some very quick packing while the blonde typed a note for Haruka and Michiru, leaving it visible on the computer screen. A few minutes later, the suite was empty.

* * *

"Ami, it's so nice to have you home."

The genius bowed to her mother, smiling at the older woman. Her eyes flew to the chain around Amami's neck that held the keystone, wondering how she was going to approach her mother about receiving the necklace so she could track her planet crystal. Despite all of the research she had done the day before, she couldn't be complete sure that the senshi could track their planet crystals with the keystones, but she also hadn't disproved that theory, either. "I won't be staying long, only a day or two at most."

"Your siblings will be upset with you. They haven't seen you in months."

"I know. Please, arrange a formal dinner tonight so I can see everyone. If my cousins are still in the capital I would love for them to come, as well."

"Of course." Amami waved her hand and a servant vanished into the palace, heading to the kitchens to begin preparations for a feast. The Queen of Mercury, her hair darker than Ami's and her eyes shades lighter, turned to Princess Serenity, offering a curtsy to her future sovereign. "Welcome to Mercury, Your Highness."

"Please, don't be so formal. I'm only here to keep my senshi company. They worry so much when I'm out of sight."

"As well they should, Princess. Are you planning on staying the night?"

Serenity smiled sweetly at the queen, her light blue eyes sparkling in the morning light. "If it isn't too much trouble."

"Of course not, but with Ami's cousins in town I only have three guest rooms available. Our palace is much smaller than any others you might visit, so I cannot offer you as much hospitality as I would like."

Ami glanced at her princess for permission before stepping forward to take charge of the sleeping arrangements. "We've been sharing a guest suite on the Moon for a few weeks, Mother, so bunking together would not be too much of a problem. Serenity can have her own room, of course, and the rest of us can double up. Princess Michiru has recently wed and will be joining us with her new partner, so they can have one room, and one of you can share with me in my chambers, leaving the last guest room for the other two."

Rei shrugged nonchalantly, as if the sleeping arrangements were of no concern. In reality, she knew that the other senshi were overjoyed to have to share, since no one would question their relationships in such tight quarters. "Minako and I had to share a suite while I was helping her tour the cities of Mars and its moons, so I don't mind sharing with her again. Makoto, would it be too much of a bother to share the princess's suite with her instead of squeezing into the guest quarters with us?"

"Oh, that's fine. I shared with Ami and Lilia on her spaceship a few weeks ago, so it should be just as comfortable now as it was then. Anyway, I don't want to share with the two honeymooners any more than you do."

Amami nodded at the arrangements, typing something on the small computer in her hand. "And when will Princess Michiru and her husband be joining us?"

"They were still out cold when we left the Moon, but she has enough power to teleport both of them here when she wakes. If she arrives after we leave for training, you can send her my transponder code and she can call me."

"Very well. Follow me, please."

* * *

Ami leaned against the wall beside her bed, sapphire eyes closed as she tried to ignore her mother's demanding glare. Makoto had left with the other senshi to gather supplies for their day of searching, but Amami had insisted on speaking with her oldest daughter in private before she left. "You know."

"I was young once, too, Ami. And I spent my days and nights with Meika, but that doesn't mean that what you are doing is safe or healthy."

"That's odd, because I've never felt healthier or happier in my life."

"You know what I mean."

"I know, but I don't care." Ami opened her eyes, the accusation in those blue depths shocking her mother. "It's not like you aren't still seeing Meika behind Father's back. How is what you are doing _healthy_ when a loving, _monogamous_ relationship is not?"

"How do you know?" Her voice was barely a whisper, shock in the queen's normally even tone. Her ice blue eyes had paled almost to white, something Ami had only seen a handful of times before.

"I'm the Senshi of Mercury; how long did you think it would take me to connect the dots?" Ami's voice was harsh and cold, far stronger than it had ever been before. Never in her life had the young princess stood up to her mother, but after spending so much time with the other senshi she could no longer cower meekly before the Mercurian queen. "I don't care what you do at your retreats, but I won't have you judging me and Mako when you can't keep yourself loyal to one person."

"I've always been loyal to one person. Meika. Kashin . . . I love him, you know. I loved him when I met him on Neptune and asked him to marry me. But the love I have for him is slow and deep while the love I have for Meika is fast and hard and forever. I think the Venusians call it body-love and soul-love. My body does love Kashin, but my soul will always choose Meika."

"I'm a lot like you, Mother, except in this one instance. I don't think I can sacrifice my happiness and hers for the sake of appearances." Ami's eyes pleaded with her mother to understand, to see the logic in her choice, but if course Amami's logic had been formed around the Ancient Laws and she could not understand.

"You would marry that Jovian and forsake your people? What about your lineage, your legacy? Who will carry the henshin stick when you are old?"

"My daughter."

"Ami, two women cannot have a child, as you well know. No matter how advanced our medical technology, such a thing is still beyond us."

"Mother are you familiar with the ancient concept of Consorts?"

Amami shrugged. "I never studied for a Scholarship in history. Is that the leader of a harem? It sounds like a Uranian thing."

"True, the Uranians did start it, but it has nothing to do with a harem. A Consort is a secondary partner that fathers a queen's child when her official partner is unable to do so. In the past, sometimes a king was deemed infertile and one of his brothers or cousins fathered the heir instead." Ami's voice had taken on that instructional timbre that told her mother that she had researched this topic at some length. "Thousands of years ago, the senshi queens did not always take husbands, instead marrying other senshi and taking consorts to father their daughters. With our new artificial insemination technology, the consort would not even have to sleep with the queen to father the next generation."

Amami stared at her daughter for a long time, processing the information and realizing what Ami was planning. "You would take a consort from Makoto's family, denying them a monogamous marriage so you can selfishly stay with your soul mate?"

"What would I be denying them? Consort is a _title_ , not a _position_. The Consort of the Queen of Jupiter would still be able to marry and have his own children, but the honor of fathering the next princess would be his. Makoto has three brothers who love her, and she thinks any of them would be honored to father the next princess of Mercury."

"And her Consort? Your brother is only fifteen and you would ask this of him?"

"Mother, I'm only eighteen. I'm not ready to have a child yet. In five or ten years when I'm ready to settle down or maybe when I'm queen, then I would ask him. And if he isn't comfortable donating sperm to Mako, I would ask Jurin. This doesn't have to be an uncomfortable situation if you don't make it sound like one."

"I would do it."

"Kaichou!" Amami spun around and faced the door, her son standing proudly in the open space. "I thought you were in tutoring."

"I wanted to see my sister. I would do it for you, Ami, to make you happy."

Ami smiled at her brother and opened her arms, giggling as the usually somber child grinned and ran forward to embrace her. Kaichou's silver eyes were filled with joy at the reunion with the sister he admired, their mother watching in silence. "How have you been, Kai?"

"Bored," the boy admitted. "Haku and I have been studying interplanetary law for our third Scholarship, and it is far more complicated then I originally thought. We wanted to give up, but you never did so we are still working on it."

"I'm very proud of you, Kai. You'll have your five titles in no time. I found some very interesting ancient books on my trip; remind me to show you some of my translations later tonight."

Kai's eyes brightened at the mention of ancient books, since his first Scholarship had been in history and he had always been fascinated by the past. "I know you have to go train now, but I'm glad you're home even for just a little while. And whenever you need me to help you, please just ask. You're the best older sister anyone could ask for, and I want you to be happy."

"Right now, I am happy. I love you, Kai."

"Love you, too, Ami." The boy grinned and dashed away, hoping to return to his twin sister and their tutor before either noticed that his absence was longer than usual. Ami glanced back up at her mother and smiled, shrugging slightly.

"You have nothing to worry about, Mother. Mako and I will be fine."

"I'll leave you alone to live your life, but please consider the decisions you make very carefully. I don't want you to be hurt."

"I know. Oh, and Mother, could I have the keystone, please?"

Amami reached under the collar of her dress and pulled the small sapphire free, staring at it for a moment before slipping the chain off and passing it to her daughter. If she was surprised by the suddenness of Ami's request, she did not show it. "It belongs to you now, I suppose."

"Thank you. If you would excuse me, please, I must join the other senshi now."

"Be careful."

* * *

Haruka slowly opened her eyes, sunlight streaming through the partially closed drapes and blinding her. With a groan, she rolled over to hide from the morning, amused sapphire eyes meeting her as she did. Michiru, graceful even with tangled hair and clothed only in a thin sheet, smiled at her wife, leaning over to kiss her cheek. "Good morning, Ruka," she breathed, snuggling into the blonde's embrace.

"Morning," Haruka managed, her husky voice still hoarse from the night before. Michiru giggled at her wife's inability to speak properly, the Uranian silencing her with a kiss. "I can't believe I never made you scream."

"You did enough of that for the both of us. I hope your throat doesn't hurt too much."

"It'll be fine. It's the least of my injuries, in any case."

Michiru freed one hand from the constricting blanket, running her fingers over the bruises decorating Haruka's breasts, smiling when the blonde hissed in pain. "You enjoyed it."

"Of course I did. I'm Uranian. That doesn't mean I won't be sore today."

"Your senshi healing should take care of that." Michiru glanced at the window, frowning as she realized that it was getting late. "What time is it?"

"Almost noon," the warrior replied, her internal clock having already determined the time. "We didn't fall asleep until dawn." She caught Michiru's wandering hand and rolled the woman over, leaning over her wife. She lowered her face to Michiru's breast, nibbling on the exposed skin around the nipple, her free hand wandering lower. Michiru gasped as Haruka's fingers entered her, the blonde ready for another round despite the hours they had already spent worshipping each other's bodies.

"I thought . . . you said . . . it was noon," Michiru whispered, breathing in time with Haruka's thrusts.

"It is. So, they've already left. If we're going to be late—" she pinched Michiru's clit and basked in her lover's moans "—we might as well make the most of it."

An hour later, the couple stood by the door to their room and surveyed the damage their honeymoon had caused. They were finally clean and dressed, packed for their trip to Mercury, and mostly capable of controlling themselves. The room, however, was in sad shape. The floor still hosted haphazard piles of clothes from the night before as well as the blankets that had been wrapped around Michiru earlier, the headboard and bed posts were warped in ways that would not be possible without senshi strength, the curtains and curtain rods were on the floor from Haruka's failed attempt to block out the sun earlier, and there were two broken lamps along the back wall that neither woman could account for. In addition to the very visible spots of discoloration on the sheets, the musky smell that lingered in the air would make it very clear what the two women had been doing all night.

"I feel bad for the servants Queen Serenity assigned us."

Haruka snorted at her wife's concern. "Don't worry; they've been dealing with this and worse in Rei and Minako's room for weeks. Although, I'm sure they're glad to be rid of us for a while."

"We should go before the others get worried. We can't teleport from inside the building without the possibility of damaging something, so we need to head outside." Michiru leaned down to grab her back, smiling when Haruka took it from her and left the room, the blonde's bag in her other hand. "Always the gentleman, Haruka."

They exited the palace without passing more than a handful of guards or servants, the blonde frowning at the lax security. "There were three times as many guards when I was here a few weeks ago. I wonder where they all went."

"Maybe they reduced their patrols in this wing since the senshi were here to protect the princess? They are more adept at keeping her safe than a handful of mortal guards."

"Perhaps." They reached the training grounds Haruka had used to teach the senshi how to fight, the fields empty so soon after the noon meal. Dropping the two bags to the ground, Haruka flicked her wrist to summon her henshin stick, watching her partner do the same. Glancing around to make sure that they were alone, Haruka raised her hand to the air and called out her transformation phrase.

"Uranus Planet Power, Make Up!"

"Neptune Planet Power, Make Up!"

Neptune's sapphire eyes widened as she stared at her partner, nodding her approval as Uranus leaned down to collect their bags again. "What?"

"I've never seen your senshi form before. You look so feminine."

Uranus snorted and drew her glowing sword, settling the bags on her shoulders as she took Neptune's gloved hand in her free one. "Considering the bows and this silly tiara and the skirt, I certainly _feel_ feminine. I could never wear something like this normally, but in this form having my legs and arms free makes me feel more powerful. I could do without the heels on these boots, though." Neptune summoned her mirror and closed her eyes, drawing on her power as she prepared for the teleport. Uranus watched the familiar aqua glow surround her partner, reaching out to merge it with her own dark gold as they vanished in a flash of brilliant light. A singed circle of grass was the only evidence that they had been on the Moon at all.

From a balcony high in the tower overlooking the training field, a young servant stared in awe at the display of power he had witnessed.

* * *

"It's one of the smaller basins up here, and it is completely uninhabited."

"That's rather strange, isn't it? Mercury is not a huge world, and without any moons to colonize, I would expect every available acre of land to be used."

Mercury shrugged at Venus's observation. The four senshi had been traveling to Daire Basin for an hour, using a very small land car to cover the distance from the palace to the remote stretch of land. Since none of them had ever visited the basin, they had not been comfortable attempting a teleport with their princess, opting for the mundane vehicle instead. Finally free of the small contraption, the five women walked purposefully into the crater, trusting the keystone in Mercury's hand to lead them to the planet crystal. Serenity's simple dress and traveling cloak were of a Jovian design, made to withstand most weather while being comfortable enough to sleep in if the need arose. The dark green and brown served to camouflage her somewhat against the landscape, while the hood of her cloak managed to hide her brilliant golden hair and the moon mark on her forehead. Her guards, all much more brightly colored than her in their senshi forms, traveled in a loose circle around their young charge, her safety still their top priority despite their quest.

Mercury froze halfway across the basin, the keystone in her hand suddenly glowing with a fierce sapphire light. The Senshi of Wisdom paused and stared at the ground nearby, sapphire eyes narrowed as she tried to find anything out of the ordinary between the scruffy bushes and scraggly grass. She tilted her head to the side as she noticed a strange rock formation only a few strides away, and she shrugged as she turned to examine it.

Mercury jumped back in shock before she could even take one step, Jupiter's strong arms preventing her from falling as Venus and Mars flanked the princess to protect her from whatever threat had appeared in front of their companion. A moment later, the leader of the Inner Senshi sighed and relaxed, the other three releasing their tension at her signal. "Took you long enough. We've been here for hours."

"No one told you to get up so early." Sailor Uranus's voice was huskier than usual, a strange scratching undertone to her words, clearly still recovering from her night.

"I'm surprised you can speak." Mars was never afraid to say exactly what was on her mind, Venus snickering at the look on Uranus's face and the blush on Mercury's cheeks. "And you were supposed to get up early with us so we could travel here together."

"We were busy." Neptune, one hand wrapped around Uranus's upper arm, giggled at the defensiveness in her wife's voice, content to stand to the side and watch the interaction between the warrior senshi.

"I can tell," Jupiter replied, smirking while she pointed at Uranus's legs. The Senshi of Wind looked down, curious, a fierce red blush spreading across her face and covering her chest. With an enraged growl, she dropped her transformation, turning to glare at her wife as soon as her suit covered her legs.

"Why didn't you tell me those were there?"

Neptune let her transformation fade, uncomfortable in her senshi form while her partner was not, running her fingers over Haruka's bound chest. "I like them."

"Michiru, there are seven bruises on my inner thigh that are _visible_ when I am in senshi form. At least everything else you did is hidden from our fellow warriors."

"Everything else?" Haruka turned to glare at Rei, the other senshi also letting their transformations fade in deference to their Outer counterparts. Rei grinned, waving her hand in a request for more information, frowning as the blonde shook her head. "You know, I had to resort to chains to drown you out."

Minako blushed and grabbed Rei's arm in warning, still sporting faint red marks on her neck and wrists. Haruka sighed and relented, glancing at her wife for permission before she began to speak. "Rei, do you remember when we were talking about lovers from the various planets? Well, we never got around to the Outer Planets, but Neptunians are . . . artistic in everything they do. They tend to see naked bodies as either inspiration or canvas. Michiru chose the latter."

"She painted you?" Serenity's innocent question led to another round of blushing, the blonde's eyes widening as she realized what Haruka had implied. "You mean . . . the bruises . . . that's art?"

"You would have to see the rest of it to understand the artistic implications," Michiru murmured, a proud light in her aqua-sapphire eyes. "I've never had such a beautiful canvas to work with before."

"Just do me a favor, Michi," Haruka whispered, running her fingers through her wife's wavy hair, "next time keep your art within the lines of my senshi uniform."

"You're the one who misbehaved."

"I think this conversation might need to change directions," Ami announced suddenly, holding out her keystone as she fought to control the blush covering her cheeks. "Before you two arrived, I saw something over there." She pointed at the small rise behind Haruka, leading the group of senshi to the tiny pile of rocks. The stone in her hand began to glow with a brilliant blue light, and the genius cleared the pile of rocks while her friends watched silently. She brushed the dirt away from the ground under the rocks, only mildly surprised to find the symbol of Mercury carved into a stone that had been hidden underneath the others. "This must be the right place. Now what?"

"The text was not very specific," Michiru murmured, running her fingers over the symbol. "Do you feel anything?"

Ami shrugged, wrapping her fingers around her keystone, flicking her wrist to summon her henshin stick. She almost dropped the stick in shock as it began to glow in time with the tiny stone, urging her to . . . Ami held the henshin stick closer to the inscription on the stone in the ground, spotting a tiny hole at the bottom of the symbol. Shrugging, she touched the end of her henshin stick to the hole and watched it slip in on its own, a key into a lock. The symbol of Mercury began to glow with the same blue light as the keystone, a small crack appearing in the stone.

The symbol vanished, leaving a hole in the ground at Ami's feet and a quiescent keystone in her hand. Retrieving her henshin stick, the senshi of Mercury carefully reached into the hole and pulled out a small spherical gemstone. The sapphire stone fit comfortably in the woman's palm, its surface as smooth as glass though it had darker blue striations throughout its depths. "It's dormant."

"Can you wake it up?"

Ami looked up at her lover and shook her head. "There's an outside force keeping it asleep. From what we discovered, I would assume that the keystone is locking its power away, but it is going to take a lot of research to determine how to unlock it. Maybe once we find all of the planet crystals we can figure out how to activate them."

"For now, it's enough that we know what that list was. Clearly, these are the locations of our planet crystals, so we should be able to find the rest of them in short order." Minako let her gaze pass over the other senshi, determination in her light blue eyes. "We've already agreed to stay the night here, so we might as well spend an hour or so training before we head back to the palace. Tomorrow we will travel to Venus, and the day after to Mars. As much as I would love to move faster, we can't risk wearing ourselves out by teleporting more than once per day until we become more proficient with our powers. Also, moving around too much will raise suspicions, so we will stick with the training story for now. Are we agreed on that?" The other senshi nodded, accepting her decision and recognizing her as their leader with the same simple gesture. "Good. Makoto, could you look through the supplies we brought and find the princess a blanket and a snack? If she insists on staying with us while we train, she might as well be comfortable. Haruka, we should continue the same training regimen we started on the Moon, so please, pass out assignments."

The blonde nodded, glancing around at her fellow warriors as Serenity settled onto a blue blanket on the grass. "Very well. We will spend a little time on unarmed combat to warm up, then we will move on to a no-rules free-for-all event to test your reactions to unexpected situations. For the warm up, Neptune will face Jupiter, Mercury will face Mars, and I will face Venus. I will call partner switches after the first round, so be prepared." She raised her hand to summon her henshin stick, pausing as she glared at her fellow senshi. "The first person to laugh at my bite marks will have double guard duty for a month." She summoned her transformation, watching as the others copied her actions, every face somber. "Begin."

Neptune faced her opponent, remembering her wife's advice as she watched the taller woman warily. The green-haired senshi had the advantage of height and reach, but as a warrior her moves would be predictable. Jupiter flexed her fingers and moved in to attack, Neptune dancing out of her way as she measured the force and distance of her punch, watching the taller woman place too much weight on one foot each time she lunged. Avoiding was easy, and the more she dodged the more annoyed her opponent became. "I knew you were a pacifist, but this is ridiculous," Jupiter growled, aiming a kick at Neptune's head that she easily avoided. "Attack me already!" Neptune smiled as she readied her body for the offensive, gathering her strength as she jumped, her foot connecting with Jupiter's chest and knocking the taller woman back. Without giving her opponent a moment to breathe, Neptune landed on her hands and flipped forward, planting one foot on the ground and kicking Jupiter's legs out from under her with the other, never losing her center of gravity. The Jovian grunted as she landed on her back, her sparring partner standing over her in victory. "Okay, I guess I asked for that."

Mercury had been practicing her unarmed combat ever since Haruka left the Moon, but she was never going to be a match for Mars. The fire-haired senshi kept her blows light in deference to the genius's lack of skill, but Mercury still landed on her back moments after their fight began. With a tolerant grin, Mars helped her partner to her feet. "You have more important skills that brute strength, you know, so don't be upset."

"I know," Mercury replied, waving one gloved hand at Uranus and Venus. "She just wanted to fight your girlfriend, in any case."

Uranus faced Venus warily, knowing that the smaller woman had more experience in the art of war than a normal citizen of her planet and that she was as comfortable with armed and unarmed combat as Haruka herself. Venus grinned and flicked her wrist, summoning her chain in a silent request. Uranus answered by drawing her sword, moving to attack a moment later. The taller blonde was fast, her moves unpredictable and wild, but her style was highly effective. Venus jumped away from the danger, sending her chain at her opponent and somersaulting back a few feet as the end of her talisman bounced off of the Space Sword. She ran forward, an obvious attack, and curled her chain around her waist before aiming a fist at Uranus's face. The older warrior grabbed her fist with her free hand, grunting in surprise as Venus's leg slammed into her ribs. They separated again, Uranus with a newfound respect for her resourceful ally, and Venus with a sharp pain in her ankle that she dared not show. The move had been well planned and perfectly executed, but costly.

Uranus raised her sword and charged again, her opponent's chain stopping the attack. She hooked one leg behind Venus, knocking her off balance long enough to retrieve her sword and slam the butt of it into the other warrior's unprotected stomach. Venus fell to the ground in shock, throwing her chain at Uranus and watching in satisfaction as it wrapped around the taller woman, pinning her arms to her side. With a sharp tug, she pulled the other blonde to her knees, standing up and glaring at the Uranian. Haruka smiled, her emerald eyes proud as she conceded defeat, Venus's chain fading a moment later. "You've learned a lot."

"Our last fight was less than satisfying," she replied evasively, reaching down to help Sailor Uranus to her feet. "You've learned a few things yourself. You're sneaky."

"Michiru is sneaky," Haruka replied, rubbing the back of her neck nervously. "I've been training her for weeks, so I suppose that I picked up a few things."

"Let me fight her."

Neptune stepped forward, examining Venus for a moment while both of them waited for Uranus's response. "Why?"

"Her power . . . she reflects her opponent's fighting style and exploits it. She can analyze their attacks almost as easily as Mercury, but instead of using that information to find their weakness, she senses their next move and counters it. Jupiter's weakness is her lack of speed, but instead of exploiting that with quick, wild attacks from unpredictable angles like Mercury and Mars have done, Neptune simply waited for Jupiter to get frustrated and taunt her, going into full defensive mode in expectation of an attack. She exploited a weakness that I have never seen in weeks of training, and it's such a simple one that I find myself intrigued. Jupiter keeps her feet on the ground."

Neptune nodded slowly, a smile spreading across her face. "She expects the same from her opponent. The last thing she would know how to counter is a foot to the chest, and after losing her balance while in a defensive mode, she was unable to regain it. Letting oneself become too grounded and too defensive is a fatal flaw that even Haruka has to overcome on occasion."

"You saw that, and it's interesting. I want to fight you." Venus raised the hand that still held her chain, letting it vanish with a golden glow. "No weapons."

"Well, you've given me the gift of seeing my wife in chains, so I suppose I will return the favor with a sparring match." Neptune raised her hands in an intentional echo of the strong defensive stance Venus had used against Uranus moments earlier, her sapphire eyes challenging the slender blonde. Grinning, Venus gestured for the other four women to move back as she readied herself to attack.


	17. Venus Love and Beauty Shock

**Chapter 17: Venus Love and Beauty Shock**

* * *

_February 14, 8983 – February 15, 8983_

* * *

Tranquility leaned back in his chair, scanning the latest reports from the outer planets in silence. His loyal Cupid leaders stood silently before him while they waited patiently for their god to finish. "The reports lack promise."

"Yes."

"How is our new priestess doing?"

The Alpha leader, a tall man with black hair and grey eyes, offered a small smile at the question. "She has quite the following now. In only a few weeks she has stirred up more support for our cause than many priests can manage in years. She would like to meet you, Lord Tranquility."

"Now?"

The Alpha, Kiyoshi, shrugged one slender shoulder, his quiver shifting with the motion. "She seems eager to serve you, my Lord. And she says she is having visions."

"Visions?! Of Serenity? We must go meet with her at once." Tranquility stood from his seat, gathering the ten Cupid leaders around him in preparation for a teleport. With his forces spread so thinly across the solar system, he enjoyed having so many group leaders with him once again. As he raised his hands to perform the spell, the door to his meeting chamber swung open, admitting a young servant boy dressed in the livery of the Silver Palace. "What are you doing here? I sent you away weeks ago."

The boy nodded and bowed his head. "I know, my Lord, but I have news."

"I'm very busy right now."

"I can accompany you, if you don't mind. What I have to say . . . is very important to the Temple of Serenity."

Tranquility sighed and grabbed the boy's hand, jerking him into the circle as the flock of Cupids vanished. An instant later they reappeared on Earth, a handful of white feathers falling to the ground as the group headed for the small temple they had established on the backwards world years earlier. The newest temple, on that snowy island where the new priestess's family ruled, was not yet completed, but was expected to rival this one in size and beauty. The boy, mesmerized by the clear blue sky and fluffy clouds, could only follow the Cupids mutely into the stone edifice.

The temple was primitive and cold, fires in braziers along the wall unable to fight back the biting chill. As a god, Tranquility neither felt the cold nor cared about it, and the Cupids had their wings to keep them warm. The servant boy, however, shivered in his light clothes, questioning the sanity of traveling to Earth without even a simple cloak to keep him warm.

The group passed through the great hall and admired the plush silver carpet covering the floor. The people of Earth liked to kneel on the ground or sit on cushions when listening to sermons, so there were very few chairs in the temple and even fewer tables. The place was primitive, bare, and inhospitable, only the images of Serenity brightening the gloom, and Tranquility found himself wondering what kind of priestess born on so dismal a world could possibly be worth his time.

The door to the inner chamber opened with a touch, the metal hinges well-oiled and the wood for the door surprisingly light, revealing a welcoming row of carved, low-back chairs gathered before a huge throne. Tranquility led his group into the room, stopping before the throne as he examined the woman occupying it. She bowed her head as he entered but offered no other obeisance, something he did not expect from the weak race that ruled the Earth. Her wild hair was colored in red, the dark shade of blood just before it dried, and her eyes were filled with a strange but dark power. His first instinct was to run, to vanish, to leave her far behind, but the god pushed that ridiculous notion away as soon as it appeared in his mind. "You must be Beryl."

"My Lord Tranquility, I have been expecting you. I had chairs brought for your Cupids, if they would like to relax."

Tranquility waved his hand and his Cupids each took a seat, even the boy choosing one of the chairs. Frowning, Tranquility realized that there were exactly enough chairs for his entourage, taking the last one for himself, surprised to find that his wings fit over the back of the chair perfectly. "Intriguing."

"You are surprised that I knew how many you would bring."

"Yes."

"Don't be. I know things I shouldn't, but I see things that I should. Tell me, my Lord Tranquility, if the Holy Grail would be of interest to you."

"The Grail?! Serenity's Grail?" He leaned forward, Kiyoshi's words about the woman's visions filling his mind.

"The same. I saw it in a vision, summoned by the power of the Sword, the Mirror, and the Orb. From what I know of the Silver Millennium, those are the talismans of the outermost planets, correct?"

"They are. What else did you see?"

"The grail cannot be summoned in this world. There is a condition to its return that I cannot see, but that condition will lead to the world where it can be called forth."

"Your riddles do not help me." Tranquility moved to stand, irritated that he had wasted time hearing information about the Grail that he already knew, but Beryl's hand on his arm made him stop. No one save Se had touched him in thousands of years, and the power he sensed from the redhead's barest brush gave him pause.

"Let me tell you something else, then. _The Silver One cannot return until the Moonlight shines in the Darkness and the Wind and the Sea give birth to the Sun._ Have you heard that one, my Lord?"

"Not in thousands of years. You saw that in your dreams?"

Beryl nodded. "The Sun is stirring in its sleep, and my power is increasing as it grows more restless. I think I am close to seeing through the veil of time to Serenity's rebirth, and with help I may be able to help her return to this world."

Tranquility regarded the human silently, confused for the first time in millennia. He had the ability to create Cupids, but he could not make the decision to birth one lightly. If he gave her power, she might be able to help in the search for his sister, but she could just as easily turn to darkness and become a threat to the rest of his following. He had destroyed dozens of promising members of his temple over the millennia when they became dark and unstable, and it was becoming harder to hide his mistakes from the gods. "Why do you want to be a Cupid?"

"Honestly? Not to find Serenity." The Cupids gasped at her blasphemy, but Tranquility smiled, encouraging Beryl to continue. "I don't know her, and I never have; as a citizen of Earth I don't even know much about her. If I become a Cupid, I know that I can help you, but I want the power for a selfish reason. The man I love . . . I want your power to win his heart. He's not impressed with my temple and my followers, but if I become a Cupid, he would have to notice me."

"You love him?"

"I do." She was telling the truth, as far as the godling could tell. She believed that she loved him. Unlike his father, Tranquility did not have the power to sense _true love_ in others, though he hoped that Eros would help him give his Cupids that gift one day, but he could see a lie. Beryl was telling the truth, and he found himself liking her.

"You don't care about my sister, and I think you are the first person in millennia to tell me the truth when I asked that question. In time, I think you will come to love her as all of my Cupids do, but for now it is enough that you have a pure intention. I will allow you to become a Cupid so that you can win your beloved's hand."

"Thank you, my Lord."

"Lord Tranquility, I think that you might want to hear my message now." The servant boy stood from his chair, forcing himself not to shake as he stared his god in the eye. "Michiru, the High Princess of Neptune, wed yesterday."

"And? What care I for the concerns of the mortals?"

"Her husband, introduced as a son of the Fourth War Queen, is an imposter."

"So? Some servant or low-caste noble who fell in love with a princess—"

"A _princess_ who fell in love with a princess," the servant interrupted, smiling as shock filled his god's eyes. "Her husband is actually her wife, the Princess Haruka of Uranus."

"Are you sure?"

"I watched her transform! There is no doubt."

"The Wind and the Sea," Beryl murmured, her eyes unfocused. "They are coming together, crashing against the shore, and they will destroy everything if left unchecked. The Sun is trembling because it desires a senshi to stop the coming war, but it cannot call one forth as long as the Wind and the Sea are one under the protection of the Silver Moon Kingdom."

"What should we do?"

"You must destroy them," Beryl whispered, the beginning of insanity in her dark eyes. "You must destroy them."

* * *

Uranus and Mars stood to one side as Neptune and Venus readied themselves for a fight, Mercury and Jupiter watching silently from positions flanking their princess. Venus tested her sore ankle, finding that it could hold her weight with no problems and that the pain was manageable, so she lowered her arms into a defensive stance and nodded at Neptune. With no more warning than that, the senshi of the seas attacked.

It was no secret in the Silver Millennium that the senshi from the Outer Planets were a breed apart. When Uranus returned to her people thousands of years earlier, she trained them to fight and _win_ no matter the cost, and the other gods noticed. Zeus, as the King of the Gods, had little time to watch his world, so the warriors of Jupiter were strong but could never quite reach the same level as the Uranians. Hades never paid any attention to his planet, but from the power Setsuna could wield, it was clearly because he did not need to teach his senshi how to fight. Poseidon, on the other hand, had always worried that his senshi would never be strong enough to protect the solar system since they were pacifists by nature, so he gave his avatars the ability to learn from others and copy their fighting styles. Uranians were the most feared warriors in the system, but a fully trained Sailor Neptune had the ability to defeat any opponent if given enough time. Venus wanted to test that, test Michiru, and she knew that she wanted to win.

Neptune smiled as she flew past Venus, her punch inches from the blonde's face as the other senshi dodged. Blood rushed through her veins, exciting her as much Haruka's touch had the night before, and she realized in that frozen instant how much she loved fighting. Her sparring matches with Haruka on Triton had been fun, but her first real fight against her mother's guards awakened something inside her, a feral hunger that she could not satisfy. She wanted to fight, to win; she wanted to be what her people feared most: a warrior. Her mother had never enjoyed fighting, but Michiru knew that she would never tire of the power in her gloved hands, the blood lust teasing the edge of her consciousness, the beauty of every move her opponent made. It was art, as much as her music and her paintings, and it was an art that she could perfect given time. She could run and jump and fight and win . . . she could defeat any opponent and surmount any obstacle. She was the essence of femininity, but she was also the raging sea, powerful and inexorable, and she would crush the Venusian.

"Hmm, she's waking up now."

"What do you mean?"

Uranus watched Venus and Neptune test each other, their punches and kicks more for show than anything, but the blows were going to start landing soon. "Unlike the other senshi, Sailor Neptune does not awaken fully when she receives her henshin stick. Her power must grow and mature over time until she is ready to become the sea and cast aside her gentle mortal trappings in the heat of battle. Neptune's power is the ability to mirror her opponent, as Venus said, but she doesn't just mirror moves and stances. She mirrors intent, emotion, and _desire_. Venus desires victory, so Neptune desires it. Venus wants to lead, to have power, so Neptune wants power."

"Yes, but Venusians aren't self-proclaimed pacifists like Neptunians," Mars argued, her dark amethyst eyes narrowed in thought as she watched her lover duck Neptune's punch and attempt to kick the other woman's legs out from underneath her. A quick balancing act on one leg and a graceful somersault left Neptune standing proudly behind Venus, ready for the next encounter.

"Poseidon, the patron god of Neptune, feared that his senshi would never be strong enough to stand against a threat from outside the system. Sometimes, Neptune is the outermost planet, and she has to stand alone. So he gave her the ability to learn from her fellow senshi so that she could become a warrior in abilities and mentality, despite being born on a world of peace. Michiru spent weeks practicing with me, fighting me and fighting alongside me, and she learned one thing in that time."

"What?"

"Uranians seek beauty within strength as much as we seek strength within beauty, and, to us, war is just another form of art. Like any other form of art, Michiru wants to learn it and perfect it, whether she knows that or not. Neither one of them can win, because neither one will ever concede defeat; they aren't capable of even considering it."

"Then why let them fight?"

Uranus turned to Mars and grinned, a wild light in her emerald eyes. "Because war is art, and she is beautiful to watch."

Venus was not predictable, Neptune soon realized. Her moves were not just wild, but completely without a recognizable pattern, and her style was so convoluted that it seemed impossible for her to land even one hit. The sharp pain in her side was evidence that Venus's style had merit, but Neptune could not follow her opponent's thoughts well enough to anticipate her next move. Mildly irritated, she switched to the offensive, using the speed she had learned from Haruka to land a multitude of minor blows while she considered her next course of action. Speed, strength, prescience, fury . . . none of those would work against Venus because her desire to win was stronger than anything Neptune had learned from the other senshi. She had to be calm and patient like the sea, waiting for the slightest opportunity to throw her opponent off-balance.

Venus growled in annoyance as the slippery Neptunian dodged another kick, landing a flurry of small punches before leaping away. The aquanette was unpredictable, her precise moves an amalgamation of styles from the other senshi, and she offered no openings for Venus to exploit. The blonde had managed to land only one hit, a sharp blow to Neptune's side, but the other woman's retaliatory kick nearly snapped her leg in two. For such a slender, graceful woman, she was strong, and for a pacifist she fought like a seasoned warrior, an unexpected lust for battle in her sapphire eyes. She was a strange contradiction, this wife of Haruka's, and Venus wondered how she could possibly defeat her.

They danced around each other for what seemed like hours, blocking punches and dodging kicks, neither gaining ground and both losing strength. The wind around them began to gust fitfully, its blonde guardian concerned as she watched her wife begin to intentionally take punches that she could have easily avoided or blocked. Venus grew more confident with each punch or kick that landed, never realizing that Neptune was using her own body as a trap. The aquanette, her sapphire eyes cold and calculating, let Venus stretch out her leg for a kick, grabbing the appendage as soon as it connected with her body. Time stood still for the combatants as Neptune drew her left arm back and _punched_ Venus in the torso as hard as she could, her strength greater than anything Jupiter had ever managed, but Venus was already moving for a counterattack before the fist connected. Her hands landed on the top of Neptune's head and pushed down as soon as the other senshi grabbed her leg, the blonde using all of her strength to jerk her knee up and _slam_ it into Neptune's forehead.

Neptune collapsed, unconscious, and Venus cried out in agony as she fell to the ground a few feet away, several ribs broken, gasping for breath. Jupiter and Mars ran to Venus's side, the Jovian carrying a first-aid kit and a medical scanner. Mercury fell down beside Neptune, her slender fingers probing the angry bump on Michiru's forehead, an anxious Uranus slipping her arms under her wife and pulling her close. "It's minor," Mercury murmured reassuringly, placing a circular device from her medical kit over the bump and watching as the swelling slowly receded. "She'll be fine as soon as she wakes up."

Mercury moved to tend Venus next, sighing at the blonde senshi trembling in her lover's arms. "You just had to provoke her, didn't you? Mako couldn't have punched you that hard no matter the situation, but it seems that Michiru broke five of your ribs."

"Yeah, it feels like it." Venus was barely able to speak, a combination of the pain and her partially crushed lung preventing normal conversation. Mercury grabbed a small patch out of her kit and placed it on Venus's arm, watching the blonde relax as the potent painkillers kicked in. "Oh, better."

"Don't move. I'm going to mend your ribs, but this is a very delicate procedure." The senshi of wisdom activated her visor and linked it to her scanner, staring at a live x-ray of the blonde's broken ribs while she calibrated a device Mercurians had developed to mend broken bones. Using her left hand to gently push the broken ribs back into position, she pointed the device at the first break and watched the bone slowly knit back together. Repeating the procedure four more times, she nodded in satisfaction as she closed her bone-mending device and deactivated her visor. "You should be fine now."

"I'll take your word for it," Venus murmured, letting Mars help her sit up. "Breathing is . . . still an issue."

"Give your lung time to reset itself. I'm going to go check on Michiru, but try to avoid any more fights for a few days."

Venus grinned, leaning back against Mars's chest. "Yeah, well, it was worth it."

Uranus ran her fingers through Neptune's hair, smiling as her wife's blue eyes fluttered open. "Welcome back."

"What happened? Who won?"

Uranus snorted and helped Neptune into a sitting position, glancing at the bump on her head. "Neither one of you. She has five broken ribs and she knocked you unconscious."

"Yeah, well, it was worth it."

Venus smiled warmly at Neptune as their partners helped them stand, Princess Serenity congratulating both of her senshi on a fine battle. "You're good. I made sure not to use the same style throughout the fight, but you managed to trick me into attacking you so that you could get a solid punch in. You sacrificed your body to win."

Neptune nodded, wincing as the multitude of bruises blanketing her form began to make themselves known. "Sometimes a sacrifice is necessary for the greater good. You must spar with Mars a lot; that last move was sneaky and something I would expect from a Martian but not a Venusian."

Venus smiled as Mars wrapped a comforting arm around her waist. "It's good that we can learn from each other. We'll be the strongest Senshi ever as long as we can avoid killing each other."

* * *

"What are these?"

"Mind puzzles. They are very popular on Mercury and they can help train you to think and reason faster. Since we will not be sparring over the next few days"—Ami glared at Minako and Michiru before continuing—"I thought we should try exercising our minds. I have some excellent strategy games here, too." She placed the pile of boxes and data crystals on her bed, letting the other senshi examine them before packing them away and placing them with her bags. "The dinner will be starting soon; we should probably get ready." Haruka nodded and took Michiru's arm, leading her wife, Rei, Minako, and Serenity back to their rooms, Makoto closing the door behind them.

"Your mother knows, doesn't she?"

Ami shrugged, slipping out of her traveling clothes and searching for a formal dress in her bag. "I never thought I could hide it from her; that's why we arranged the rooms when we first arrived. I wanted to confront her in private before the dinner to avoid any awkwardness. This meal will be interesting enough as it is, with my cousins gathered." Ami selected a rich purple dress that brought out the color of her eyes, checking the embroidered edges for any fraying. Satisfied with her choice, she slipped the dress over her head, the hem falling just below her knees and the lacy sleeves almost reaching her elbows. Sitting down at her vanity, the genius selected a simple necklace and bracelet from her jewelry box, slipping a pair of harp-shaped silver pins into her hair.

"Which cousins? The ones I know?" Ami nodded an affirmative, finding a pair of low heels that matched her dress and slipping them on. Glancing at her lover's color choice, Makoto searched through her luggage for a dark blue dress with lighter accents, slipping it over her head and reaching for the zipper on the back. "Ami, can you get this? My arms can't reach."

Ami nodded and reached over from her seat, sliding the zipper closed and tugging on the hem that just brushed the Jovian's knees before reaching up and releasing Makoto's hair from her customary ponytail. "You should wear it down tonight."

"Whatever makes you happy," Makoto replied, quickly running a comb through her green hair and checking her earrings.

"You make me happy."

Makoto smiled and pulled Ami into her arms, kissing the top of her head. "I love you, Ami. You know that, don't you?"

"Of course," Ami whispered, "because I love you, too." She rested her head against Makoto's chest, letting her presence relax the Jovian. She was used to spontaneous declarations of love from her partner, knowing that each one stemmed from emotional turmoil that Makoto couldn't work through on her own. "What is it?"

"I'm worried about what my mother will think of us," Makoto admitted. "Mercurians understand logic but Jovians tend to only understand strength. I have to convince my mother to accept our relationship, but I don't know if I'm strong enough to confront her."

"You'll be strong enough because I'll be there with you." A sharp knock on the door interrupted whatever Makoto planned to say in response, the taller woman sighing as she released her lover. "Yes?"

"Her Majesty the Queen invites you to her table for the evening meal, Your Highness," a servant replied from the other side of the door. "Her Highness the High Princess of Jupiter is cordially invited to attend, as well."

"We will be there presently. Thank you."

Makoto slipped into a pair of jeweled sandals and offered Ami her arm, smiling as the smaller woman accepted the escort. They left the princess's bedroom and headed for the main dining hall, collecting the other senshi and the Moon Princess along the way.

Amami and Kashin stood as the procession of princesses entered the dining hall, the other guests copying their action. Jurin, Haname, and Kounin exchanged glances as Ami and Makoto entered first, their linked hands making it clear that they were no longer going to hide their relationship, proud of their cousin for finding love. As Ami and Makoto took a guard position on one side of the door, Lilia winked conspiratorially at the shy princess and her lover. Rei and Minako entered second, wearing the same red and gold dresses that had alerted Asakaze to their relationship weeks ago, taking position opposite the other senshi. All four women bowed as Princess Serenity entered the dining hall, the Mercurian royals also bowing to their High Princess. The blonde smiled and gestured for everyone to rise, lifting her pink skirt to avoid tripping over it as she headed for the chair held for her by Prince Kaichou. The four senshi took their seats as well, turning to the door as the last of their companions entered the dining hall.

Michiru smiled and offered a curtsy to the Mercury Royal Family as she entered the hall, her ruffled, knee-length dress colored in a pale teal that accented her blue eyes and her hair loose around her shoulders. Her eyes widened as she spotted the blonde woman seated beside the black-haired Mercurian Duchess, a smile gracing her face as she took her seat. "It's good to see you again, Laira."

"I share the sentiment, Your Highness, as well as the surprise. I had not heard that you were traveling." Laira's long, golden hair hung down her back in a simple braid, a thin golden chain around her forehead to mark her position as a Lesser War Queen of Uranus. The four Mercurian guests watched the interaction, mildly curious about the Neptunian and the relationship she had with Lilia's new girlfriend. "I'm here with my partner, Lilia, Duchess of Urawa. Have you met?"

"No. It's very nice to meet you, Lilia."

"The same, Princess Michiru. Ami didn't tell us that you would be coming."

"Well, it was a bit sudden. I'm here with my partner, as well." Michiru raised one hand and waved gracefully at the door, offering the introduction that Haruka had requested as soon as she realized the only possible identity of the other Uranian visiting the palace.

Haruka stepped into the dining hall with a purposeful stride, her dark navy suit edged in gold and the Space Sword strapped to her hip. Nothing in her proud stance or richly embroidered clothing indicated that she was a woman, but there was a brilliance in her emerald eyes that marked her as royalty. The Mercurians bowed their heads in greeting, but Laira sat, frozen, as she stared at the taller Uranian. She pushed herself to her feet, unable to hide her shock or the _recognition_ in her dark green eyes. "It can't be you," she breathed, something in the princess's eyes preventing her from falling to her knees in obeisance. "How?"

"Laira, it's so good to see you again," Haruka purred, taking her seat next to Michiru and gesturing for the actress to relax. "It's been years since Titania."

"Y-yes, it has. I . . . I never expected to see you here."

"You two have met?" Lilia glanced from her girlfriend to Michiru's wife, wondering what bond the two shared and whether she needed to be jealous of the taller Uranian.

"Years ago, after Laira was knighted on Neptune," Haruka replied, glancing at Michiru again. "Oddly enough, she has been a topic of conversation between myself and the senshi recently."

Michiru took Haruka's hand in hers, smiling as her gaze met Laira's across the table. "Please, allow me to introduce my partner whom I recently married. This is Rukaze, youngest child of Ono Hikari, Fourth War Queen of Uranus."

The shock in Laira's eyes changed into amusement as the servants placed the first course on the table. She waited until the Mercurian royals began to introduce themselves to the visiting senshi before smiling across the table at her princess. _"So that is your angle."_

One eyebrow raised in surprise, Haruka glanced at her wife before shrugging. Laira chose to speak in the most obscure dialect of their native tongue still in use on Uranus, High Mirandan, to make sure that none of the Mercurians could understand them, so Haruka answered her in the same language. As far as she knew, only Michiru could understand the dialect Laira had chosen. _"I ran away. Are you surprised?"_

" _No. The War Queens are calling for Koshu to step down, to let them look for you. It will be a bloodbath, Haruka. You cannot allow the War Queens to depose your father."_

Haruka nodded sadly, taking Michiru's hand in hers. _"How bad is it?"_

Laira shrugged, sipping her soup as Lilia touched her arm in a question. The actress shook her head, indicating that she would have to explain later, when she decided how much the duchess could be told. _"Ono Hikari, Kimura Sanae, and Endou Ado are counseling against ousting Koshu, but the others will gain support from the Lesser War Queens and the Duchess Council in time."_

" _Hikari, huh? She knows the truth, but you're right. She can't control them for long."_

" _What will you do, Princess?"_

Haruka turned to Michiru, running her fingers through her wife's aqua hair. _"I have to return soon, Michi."_

" _I know,"_ the Neptunian replied.

" _You should return now, Haruka. If your father loses control . . ."_

Haruka silenced the actress with a sharp hand gesture. _"I cannot. There are things I must do before taking my place as Queen. You have to return in my place."_

" _Princess?!"_

" _Go and tell Hikari to reveal the truth of my absence. Tell everyone that I ran away like most young Uranian women tend to do, and that I will return in my own time and not when someone finds me. Tell everyone not to panic, that they must not start a war with the other planets just because I needed to learn how to become the wind."_ The phrase she used at the end confused Michiru, but Laira understood the sentiment perfectly. When a Uranian woman left her home, it was said she had to learn to become the wind and satisfy her wanderlust before she could settle into her birthright. As the Princess, Haruka had more power than most Uranian women, so she had more to work through before she would be ready to assume the throne.

" _I can do that, Princess."_

" _Thank you."_ The two women returned to their meals, Laira whispering something to Lilia to make her blush and forget the secret conversation she had just shared with Haruka. Jurin and Haname chuckled at some story Ami was relating from their aborted survey, Kashin watching the princess of his birth planet and her Uranian husband silently.

The conversations lulled as the main course was placed on the table, and the tall king with aqua-highlighted black hair chose that moment to address Haruka. "Rukaze, have you been to Uranus recently?"

"I've been gone a while," she answered evasively, sipping her wine. "I visited to present Michiru to my family a few days ago."

"Then you must have heard that the War Queens are mobilizing to search for Princess Haruka. They are frantic with worry, and the people of Neptune know it." Ah, that was the point. Kashin wanted to know from the son of a War Queen if his birth planet was in danger from their warrior neighbors.

"King Koshu can keep them calm," Haruka assured the king, everyone silent as they listened to the blonde. "In any case, Fourth Ono Hikari and her closest allies are with him, calling for patience. The Princess will return."

"I don't know why she hasn't been found yet," Lilia commented, her attention on her meal. "They say she looks just like Kazeko, so why is it so hard to find her?"

"Kazeko died twenty-one years ago," Haruka replied, a hardness in her voice that worried her wife. Michiru took her hand, offering her silent support, for which the blonde was grateful. "It's not like her image is posted across the system. In any case, a large number of Uranians are blonde with green eyes, as you can see with Laira, so finding one woman among thousands that match the basic physical description of the Princess will be hard."

"And there's another thing," Laira added, letting her eyes meet Haruka's across the table. "Even on my world, even on Oberon itself, no one has ever seen the Princess. Only a select few outside of the War Queen Coalition and the Duchess Council have ever laid eyes on her magnificence, and almost everyone who has is still on Oberon. She has not left our world since Princess Serenity's Presentation, and she was just a child at the time. How can anyone find a woman that no one has ever seen?" Haruka smiled at the sparkle in Laira's eyes, the blondes both knowing that it would be impossible for a non-Uranian to understand that everyone was looking for a woman, but they should be expecting a man. Laira, as a true Uranian, understood that Haruka's _sajink_ was very strong, but these foreigners would never see that.

"Would you recognize her, Laira?"

The actress turned to her girlfriend at the question and smiled. "In an instant, but none of you ever would."

"Then how can anyone find her?"

"They won't," Haruka replied easily, confidence in her tone. "She will return when she is ready. That is the princess's choice."

* * *

Asakaze was not looking forward to seeing her daughter again. In contrast, Shinrai, dressed in his finest suit of brilliant white and gold, was almost bouncing with joy, unable to stand still as a brilliant, multi-colored light filled the palace courtyard. Their twin daughters, Fuji'iro and Gin'iro, held their mother's hands tightly, eager to see their older sister but wary of invoking their mother's wrath by rushing forward without permission. The bright light in the center of the courtyard faded to reveal five senshi with a tall man and a young woman standing in the center of their circle. The two senshi in the front, a blonde and a redhead, faced Asakaze across the courtyard, challenge in their eyes. The queen sighed and turned her head to the side, agreeing not to fight with Minako and Rei while they were visiting Venus, and the two senshi relaxed. All five of the senshi let their transformations fade and escorted Princess Serenity forward, the group of royals exchanging bows and curtsies before Minako stepped forward to hug her father.

"Welcome home, Mina."

"It's good to be home, Father."

"It hasn't been the same around here without you. Your sisters have been excited all day since we told them you were coming home."

Minako leaned down to greet her sisters, standing before her mother in silence before offering a gentle hug. Shinrai watched the frigid interaction, wondering why his wife and daughter were fighting but knowing that he'd never get a straight answer from Asakaze. "Hello, Mother."

"Minako, it's good to have you home. Your message said that your training regimen requires spending some time on Venus to learn the terrain." Her voice was skeptical, calling her daughter's bluff, but Minako only shrugged.

"Rukaze wants us to train on every world, so here we are. I would think that you would be happy to have visitors, no matter the reason."

"Of course I'm happy," Asakaze replied, offering a genuine smile as she turned to the other women. Serenity grinned at the queen, her excitement infectious as she took the tall blonde's hand. Perfectly happy to let the Moon Princess distract her mother, Minako walked over to the servants waiting behind the royals, requesting blankets, towels, food, and supplies for their day trip to Sunrise Bay. She turned to watch the interaction between Serenity and her mother while she waited for the servants to return.

"Good, because I'm excited to be here. I've never been off the Moon before, and I hear that Venus is a beautiful planet. My senshi will be busy training all day, but I would love to spend the day with you showing me your world." Her eyes implored the queen to agree with her plan, and the pink-eyed woman relented.

"Of course, Princess; we would love to. Fuji, go have some servants prepare a vehicle and supplies; we can get going as soon as everything is ready." Asakaze glanced up at the tall blonde man standing beside the princess of Neptune, tilting her head in confusion. "Your name isn't Kazemaru."

"No." The blonde's voice was husky, confident, and _powerful_. He was so much stronger and more centered than he had been during his first trip to Venus, and it confused the queen. There was something about him . . . something _familiar_ . . . but she couldn't place it. "It's one of my war titles. I am _Kazemaru_ Rukaze, child of the Fourth War Queen Ono Hikari, and Michiru is my wife."

"Seems like you found what you were looking for."

"I tend to." He glanced at Serenity, his emerald eyes dark with worry as he touched the princess's sleeve. "Are you sure you don't want to watch the training?"

Serenity turned to Haruka, smiling as she took the taller blonde's hand. Minako caught Asakaze's attention and pulled her away, leaving the princess alone with her senshi. "Ruka, I read that list of crystal locations. The Venus one is in Sunrise Bay, and that is _hands down_ the most beautiful and romantic place on this entire planet. By extension, since this is the planet of love and beauty, it's the most romantic place in the entire Silver Millennium. I know what Minako plans to do there once she finds her crystal, and I am not interested in observing _that_."

Haruka blushed, looking down at Michiru as the aquanette giggled. "Princess . . ."

"I know. Just enjoy yourselves today, and I will get the grand tour of Venus from the Queen and King. I'm only fourteen; I don't need the six of you scarring me for life."

Minako pulled her mother closer to the castle, away from the senshi and the rest of her family. "Mother, I need something from you."

"What?"

"The keystone."

Asakaze's hand flew to her neck, touching an intricate chain that matched the one Ami now wore, carefully extracting the topaz from under the neckline of her dress. "Why?"

"Something is coming, something that we senshi will discuss in full with you on Titan in a few days." There was no time to beat around the bush or pretend like their world wasn't in danger, and Minako's sudden and intense seriousness shocked her mother. "I need the stone as part of our plan to prevent it."

The pink-eyed queen regarded her daughter silently for a moment, staring into those intense blue eyes that had the ability to _command_ in them, an ability that Asakaze never mastered as Sailor Venus. Her power and her control were greater than anyone had expected to see from Asakaze's child, and it was clear that she had no idea how strong she was. Standing there, her golden hair teased by the light breeze dancing across the courtyard, Minako was the Goddess incarnate, a perfect blend of beauty and power, and she would never take no for an answer. Her words were a request, but her stance was an order. Silently, Asakaze passed the orange topaz to her daughter, relinquishing her Sailor Venus mantle at last to the child who had surpassed her in every way.

Asakaze and Minako returned to the center of the courtyard as Haruka burst out laughing at Serenity's parting words, the warrior collecting the five senshi and leading them away while a flock of servants carried their luggage into the palace and their assigned rooms. Another pair of servants handed the senshi a bag of supplies for their training session while the silvery blonde twins attached themselves to the Moon Princess, excitement in their lavender and silver eyes. Asakaze stared at Haruka as the five senshi prepared to teleport, something in her memory struggling to surface, but she could not place that face, those eyes, that laugh. Something . . . somehow she knew that man and the sword he wore so proudly on his hip. An instant later, the senshi vanished in a flash of lights as they had arrived, leaving three excited young blonde princesses in her care and a silent, brooding, strawberry blonde husband by her side.

* * *

"What did Minako ask you?"

Asakaze shrugged as she watched the scenery roll past, the three princesses in the front of the vehicle occupied by the beauty of her world. Serenity was genuinely excited to be on Venus, and her attitude was infecting the twins. "She wanted the keystone."

"Why didn't you give that to her when you gave her the henshin stick? I thought that was the custom." Shinrai's amber eyes watched his wife carefully, waiting for a reaction to his probing. He knew something was going on between her and their daughter, but both women had learned long ago to never answer a direct question from the king. Like all of his people, the Martian was direct, but Venusians rarely were.

"I didn't _give_ her the henshin stick." Shinrai's eyebrows shot up, and his wife sighed in defeat. She was going to have to tell him sooner or later. "While she was on Mars, she forced her transformation in order to save the princess's life." She was being deliberately vague, and her husband could sense that she was avoiding some important truth in the story. A Martian warrior needing help from a Venusian never trained to fight? What kind of situation could call forth the transformation to Sailor Venus?

"Why?"

"Because she needed to." Avoidance again. "I requested the security footage from Mars, if you want to watch." Shinrai nodded, and Asakaze tapped a code into the arm of her chair, watching as a holo-image faded into existence before them. He watched the first part of the fight in silence, wincing as two of Sailor Mars's arrows sent Rei to the ground, eyes narrowed as the blonde Uranian he had met earlier stepped out of the crowd and spoke to the princess. The recording did not catch any part of their conversation, but when Rei turned back to her mother with a new determination in her eyes, it was clear that Rukaze had been encouraging her to win.

Shinrai leaned forward, clearly entranced by the intensity of the second part of the fight, his Martian blood raging as he watched Rei's bloodlust in action. Rikuriko summoned a flaming sword in place of her bow, meeting her daughter's swords in the center of the field. Rei was determined, but untried, and even with her rage she might not be strong enough to win. "She's fighting for something now," Shinrai whispered, his amber eyes never leaving the recording. "In the beginning of the fight, she just wanted the henshin stick, but that wouldn't be enough to call forth this rage." He held his breath as Rei fell to the ground, Rikuriko raising her sword for the final blow, and he knew that she meant to kill the child.

Shinrai jumped back, amber eyes wide, as Sailor Venus suddenly appeared between the pair, golden chain in one hand, as Minako's scream echoed across the field. She was glowing, her power still new to her, determination in her pale blue eyes. She turned to Mars, fury in her stance, and accused the queen of trying to kill her daughter. Rikuriko refuted the claims, but Shinrai had seen the rage in her eyes, had heard her call for her daughter's death. A Martian's bloodlust _could_ be strong enough to cause a mother to kill her child, but it was so uncommon that Shinrai had never heard of it happening. Rei stood, one sword still in her hand, and sent Venus away, her soft words full of gentle affection. _"Thank you, but I am_ your _champion, not the other way around. Let me finish this battle."_ He watched her pray to Ares, anger slowly filling his frame, and he silently nodded as Rei defeated her mother. He couldn't find words until after Ares appeared and named Rei his avatar, the recording ending on the symbol of Mars Security.

"You didn't tell me that they are lovers."

Asakaze's pink eyes widened in shock, both at the unexpected words and the rage in her gentle husband's voice. "What?"

"Don't pretend like you don't know. I saw Minako's silent challenge to you when she appeared today, and Rei was not fighting her mother to win the henshin stick. She was fighting to protect her mate. Any Martian can see that clearly." He took a deep breath to calm his rage, turning the recording off as their vehicle entered the trade district. "She won the Venus henshin stick because . . . because Rei is her soul mate."

"Yes," Asakaze admitted, her voice no more than a whisper.

"Is it . . . normal? For a senshi to have a senshi for a soul mate?"

Fuji'iro squealed as the vehicle stopped, a pair of servants letting the twins climb out into the bustle of the trade district as a flock of guards surrounded the young royals. Serenity glanced over her shoulder at Asakaze and Shinrai before following the twins, knowing that the royal couple needed some time alone.

"Yes," the queen finally managed, unable to meet her husband's gaze. The secret that had been slowly crushing her for decades finally lifted, and she felt tears of relief fill her eyes. "The soul of a senshi is too strong to be bound to a man."

He had expected that answer for years, but it still hurt worse than any sword he had ever taken in his time as a Martian warrior. He knew that he wasn't Asakaze's soul mate and he had known since he saw Rikuriko's face the day Minako was born, but it still hurt to hear his wife admit it. "Do you love me, Asa?"

The blonde turned to her husband, to the man who had accepted her marriage proposal on Mars all those years ago, and she smiled. "Of course I do, Shin."

"But you love her, too."

"Rikuriko. Yes. I'll never stop loving her." In her voice was a request, and Shinrai smiled as he took her hand. How could he not forgive her? She was a Venusian, a woman who simply loved without reservation or regret. It wasn't her fault that the laws of the Silver Millennium prevented her from being with her soul mate, and she had been the perfect loving wife for decades.

"I can live with that," Shinrai whispered, reaching up to cup Asakaze's cheek with one hand. "I know I can only have you for this life, but it's enough for me."

"I was expecting a little more possessiveness from a Martian," Asakaze admitted.

"I'm not a normal Martian. Maybe that's why Rikuriko picked me."

Asakaze smiled and leaned her head on Shinrai's shoulder, silently watching Serenity, Fuji'iro, and Gin'iro enjoy their trip to the trade district. He wasn't the partner she had wanted when she was eighteen, but she was glad to have him.

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **AN:** You know what's coming in the next chapter. It's a treat, since we're going to be having serious apocalypse discussions and queenly confrontations for a while. I'm using the fights to examine the different ways each planet and each senshi view war, since all of them are required to participate, and to let them hone their skills for the coming battle. Also, if you remember, in chapter 12 Tranquility was talking about a new priestess; now you finally got to meet her. I hope you were pleasantly surprised (or that you guessed her identity five chapters ago).


	18. Mars Flame Sniper

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  **AN1:** Very little actual plot happens this chapter, but there is shameless smut. Hopefully you will enjoy anyway.

**Chapter 18: Mars Flame Sniper**

* * *

_February 15, 8983_

* * *

It was going to take the servants days to clean the suite used by the senshi while they visited the moon. Dozens of white-garbed men and women changed sheets, cleaned and re-stuffed mattresses, replaced the bed frame in one room, cleaned carpets, and fixed broken furniture. One young boy was assigned to remove the broken lamps in Princess Michiru's room, and he made sure to pick up every last shard of glass before reporting to the headwoman. His superior and the leader of the household servants, the headwoman nodded in approval as she scanned the list in her hand to find him another duty. Since he was small, there were a number of tasks that would be suitable for him. "It seems that the computer in Princess Makoto's room is non-functional, and the tech suspects burned wiring. You're small enough to crawl into the wall and check."

"Burned wiring? An electrical fault? That seems unusual."

The headwoman shrugged, her brown eyes unconcerned. "It's said that the Senshi of Jupiter has the power of lightning. It was probably an accidental discharge on her part. Go report to the techs and they will show you where to enter the wall."

Sighing, the boy nodded and walked to Makoto's room, avoiding the servants replacing the curtains in the living room and the boxes of new ornaments ready to be installed on the wall. The head tech smiled as he entered the bedroom, pointing at an access panel under the computer desk. "You know what burned wiring looks like? Good. Just check everything and tell us if anything looks suspicious." The boy took the offered crystal, tapping it to activate its light mechanism before crawling through the tiny hole.

"Serenity save me," he whispered, eyes wide in shock. Inside the wall, where the wires for the computer were supposed to be, he found nothing but a charred mess and frayed fiber optic cables. "Sir, everything in here will have to be replaced."

"Great." The resigned sigh that followed the word echoed the sound made by the other servants many times over the last two days; it was the sound of a suite so destroyed by women as powerful as gods that nothing could be done except to tear out and replace everything. "Fine; sit tight for a minute while I send someone for new wires. You can go ahead and cut out the ruined sections while you wait."

The boy nodded and glanced to the right, accepting the cutters passed through the small hole by one of the techs. Placing his light-emitting crystal on the floor beside him, the servant began to cut away the wires.

As soon as the mass of char and filament crashed onto the floor in a dust-spraying heap, the boy coughed to free his lungs from the aftereffects of the electrical surgery and turned to the panel revealed before him. The ends of the wires all had to be unplugged, so he reached out to begin that operation, freezing as his young fingers touched the sharp point of a data crystal. It was wedged between the edge of the panel and the wall, accessible from the other side for someone with long, slender fingers, and something hidden so well was clearly _important_. Hesitating for only a moment, the servant slipped the crystal free of its home, dropping it into a pocket to be examined or copied later, instantly returning to his assigned task.

As soon as all of the wires were free, he pushed the entire mass of destroyed computer parts out of the hole in the wall, following them a moment later. The techs, still gathered around the room waiting on whatever servant was supposed to deliver the wiring, glanced at the boy and smiled. Their leader gestured for one of his minions to dispose of the mess while he used a nearby cloth to clean dust and soot from the boy's face. "Go tell the headwoman that I have given you a break to clean up. The wiring will be here in an hour; go wash your face, change your clothes, and have a bite to eat before then, okay?"

"Yes, sir," the boy replied, smiling appreciatively. His pale brown eyes conveyed his thanks as he dashed away, heading for the servant's wing, one hand on the precious data crystal in his pocket.

Changing his clothes and washing his face took only a few minutes, and he used the time to make a quick copy of the pilfered crystal before heading to the lower kitchens for a brief snack. A pastry in one hand and his copy of the crystal in the other, the servant found an open alcove in the great dining hall and plugged it in, making sure the volume was muted in case anyone walking by wondered what he was looking at. The chances of anyone taking interest in the actions of a young servant were slim, but his time in the Temple of Serenity had taught him to always be fearful of the actions of non-believers.

The words scrolling across the screen filled him alternately with warm joy and frigid dread. Prophecies. The crystal . . . those princesses had found prophecies relating to the rebirth of the Goddess Serenity and they were hiding them! Jerking his data crystal from the computer, the servant boy glanced at the nearby clock and made a decision. He had more than forty minutes before he was expected to return to duty, plenty of time to run to the Temple to deliver this information and return. Slipping the crystal into his pocket once more, the boy left the palace.

* * *

As soon as the senshi had decided that they would need to travel to each of their worlds to search for the planet crystals, the four Inners had sent messages to their parents with a few locations they were considering on using for training purposes. Each of the four queens had ordered those locations blocked off by force fields and guards while the small army of princesses were visiting in order to protect their people from the wild energies of senshi training. As the group appeared on a low promontory overlooking Sunrise Bay, they thanked Asakaze for emptying the usually-crowded location for their use.

Minako was the only princess who had ever visited Sunrise Bay, so she was perfectly happy to stand back and enjoy the awe in her friends' eyes. Behind them, covering the verdant hills in brilliant jewel tones, the city of Sunrise Bay shone in the golden sunlight streaming through the dome overhead, its citizens often considered the loveliest people born from a planet that prided itself on absolute beauty. Overhead, the thick dome that protected Sunrise Bay reached through the thousands of miles of dense yellow, sulfur-rich carbon dioxide clouds to let in actual sunlight, the star much larger and brighter over Sunrise Bay than any of the artificial suns used under the other domes of Venus. It was the only place on Venus, and possibly the only place on any planet except for Earth, where true sunlight reached the surface. The inside of the dome possessed the light-emitters used on other worlds, but they were off for the hundred and seventeen days that Sunrise Bay faced the sun, only used during the long Venusian night. A lower layer of emitters—almost completely invisible thanks to Mercurian cloaking technology—floated over the hundreds of miles of trees and water, offering simulated full-spectrum light to the thousands of life forms that shared Venus, each one programmed to detect a person underneath and block most of the harmful UV rays, protecting visitors from the hazards of non-visible light. Every Standard Night, the same emitters would block out the real sunlight for a few hours, though days over the bay were twice as long as the nights.

Below them, stretching for hundreds of miles in all three directions, the Bay itself shone in the daylight. It was just a few days before Venusian noon, the sun a few degrees off from center, and the light from their star danced across the perfect cerulean blue of the bay itself, penetrating the depths and sparkling off the waves. Sunrise Bay was a giant lake, the largest free-standing body of fresh water in the Silver Millennium, and its white sand beaches shone with the brilliance of diamonds, the color offset by the myriad blues, greens, yellows, purple, oranges, and reds of the trees crowding for space at the shore. Nothing on Venus was monochromatic, not even its plant life, and it was full spring on the golden world. Every tree was in flower, every plant in bloom, and the heady scent of the thousands of natural perfumes surrounded the stunned senshi, titillating their senses and testing their resolve.

"By Serenity," Rei breathed, the first to find her voice, and Minako giggled.

"As beautiful as I am, did you think my world would be ugly?"

"Gods, no, but I never imagined . . ." Rei spun to face her lover, pulling the blonde into her arms and offering her a gentle kiss. Minako could feel her Martian restrain herself from pushing any further, almost unable to resist the atmosphere of the Bay. _"You're still more beautiful,"_ she whispered in Venusian, letting her love wash over her partner.

"Good answer." She grinned as she kissed Rei's cheek, running her fingers through her lover's crimson hair. "My people have a belief that a person's entire life, entire destiny, is determined by the place they are conceived. It's one of the most important things for a mother to tell her child. If you are conceived in a place of darkness and death, you will never know light. If you are conceived in a solitary palace, you will live alone. But if you are conceived on a beach surrounded by beauty and light, you will be a person that brightens every room and live in beauty all of your life."

Rei smiled, knowing Minako's point. "You were conceived here."

"This place is sacred to me, maybe more than it is to my people. I've wanted to bring you here since I first touched your hand."

Makoto recovered from her shock as Rei kissed Minako again, her emerald eyes almost unable to leave the breathtaking sight of so many plants crowding the view. "These are forests I would love to explore."

"This is the most romantic sight on Venus, and you want to _explore_ the _forests_?"

Ami blushed as she answered for the Jovian, remembering something Makoto had whispered to her days earlier. "Jupiter's moons are mostly forests, often deadly, so Jovian warriors focus their combat training among the trees. They have such a close connection with the plant life on their world that it is considered the greatest declaration of love to take a woman into the forest for . . . intimate relationships."

"You have sex in trees?"

"I liked the way Ami said it better," Makoto snorted, pulling her blushing lover into her arms. "I met Ami as her guard for an ecological survey that was supposed to take her to all of the planets and major moons to gather samples of the plant life, but we never made it this far. Seeing your world, I wish we had. A place this romantic would have cracked Ami in a second." Ami's blush darkened, the petite Mercurian hiding her face against Makoto's chest while the other inner senshi laughed.

Minako silenced her three friends with a wave of her hand, suddenly realizing that Haruka and Michiru were still standing silently, staring across the lake as if in a trance. As the four senshi watched, a gentle breeze floated up from the lake, caressing the two lovers and bringing with it the scent of the sea-sized lake and the flowers crowding its shores. Haruka's right arm slowly found a perch around Michiru's waist, the aquanette leaning her head on her wife's shoulder. "Serenity was right," the blonde managed, her husky voice filled with a strange assortment of emotions. "This is a very romantic place." She turned to face the other senshi, a warmth in her emerald eyes that Minako had never seen before, something that very closely resembled _contentment_. "Sailor Pluto probably hoped that the allure of this place would make any Sailor Venus forget her mission to find the planet crystal." She seemed so at ease, so relaxed, and Minako knew that the rumors about Uranians needing to find beauty were true. This place was a balm to Haruka's bruised soul, a place where she could let Michiru heal her at last, the kind of lover's paradise a Uranian warrior needed. Minako smiled, glad to see her senshi happy, accepting Haruka's reminder to finish her mission before surrendering to her hormones.

"Let's go find my planet crystal, shall we?"

* * *

"This is taking longer than I expected."

Minako glared at Haruka over her shoulder, the topaz in her hand emitting a faint orange light. "It's a big place, Haruka. You were late yesterday or you would know that it took just as long for Ami to find hers."

Haruka shrugged as she ducked under a branch, wondering how many miles they had walked so far. The lake was huge, much bigger than it looked from above, and she was beginning to wonder if Pluto had chosen her hiding spot too well. The light from the keystone had been faint for hours, telling them without a doubt that the planet crystal was near, but not giving them any hint as to the direction they should travel. The blonde shifted the annoyingly awkward bag of supplies from one tired shoulder to the other, wondering again why Minako would not just let them transform so they could finish this search faster. She was wasting time trudging through an admittedly beautiful forest when she could be worshipping her wife on a white sand beach.

The senshi of wind narrowed her eyes at Makoto, the tall warrior at home in the dense forest, her rust-brown and green armor letting her blend into the shadows with a little more ease than Haruka's dark navy and black armor. "Hey, Thunder, want to take a turn with this bag Minako packed?"

"Getting tired, Wind?" Haruka wasn't sure when they started teasing each other by using their powers in place of their names, but it was certainly a common feature among the warrior races to call each other by a nick name of some sort. The green-haired Jovian reached out to take the bag, accepting that it was her turn to lug the supplies through the dense forest, reaching out to tap Rei on the shoulder as they avoided another tight cluster of trees. "It's your turn next, Pyro." The three warriors silently agreed that the more delicate members of their party would not be required to help in this case, since none of them would be able to stand the sight of their lovers weighted down by the ungainly pack. Haruka, however, couldn't help but think that Minako was welcome to help carry the supplies that she had none-too-carefully shoved into this one bag.

"If we don't find the stone first," Rei replied absently, her entire attention on the orange stone in Minako's hand that had suddenly begun to pulse in a steady pattern.

"We're close." Minako began to move faster, her anticipation helping her slip through the trees even faster than before, Rei by her side to make sure that she didn't trip in her excitement. They broke through a cluster of golden-leafed trees and found themselves on the beach once more, the area very private and secluded from the rest of the bay. In the center of the clear area, a single _baythorne_ tree rose against the sky, its bark a rich purple and its leaves brilliant blue. It was incredibly old, its roots reaching back into the forest on one side and diving into the lake bed on the other, its crown shading half of the rather large beach. Some of its longest branches, weighted down by thousands of tiny pale pink flowers, caressed the surface of the calm lake, hundreds of birds and insects drawn to the shelter of its branches. Minako walked toward the tree, her keystone glowing with wild abandon as soon as she stood next to its trunk. "It's here."

Makoto dropped the bag on the ground and stepped forward, flicking her wrist to summon her talisman as she rested one hand on the smooth bark of the _baythorne_ tree. Her quarterstaff, originally crafted from a dark green tree before being imbued with the powers of Jupiter, began to glow with her power, the tiny gems and metallic runes that covered its surface pulsing in a strange pattern. Her long fingers tightened around the smooth wood as she leaned her forehead against the tree, whispering something in her native tongue. "This tree was planted thousands of years ago and instructed to guard something. A . . . seed? She says that it is a golden seed."

"My planet crystal is inside that tree?"

Makoto glanced over her shoulder, the symbol of Jupiter glowing fiercely from her forehead. "That would certainly insure that you couldn't find it on your own. I think I can help her expel the stone. Stand beside me and focus your senshi power through your keystone. Try to call your crystal and I will do the rest." Minako nodded and moved to stand beside Makoto, holding her keystone to her chest and leaning her forehead against the tree, her free hand on Makoto's shoulder. They both began to glow, one orange-gold and the other forest green, their powers pulsing in time with the keystone. The tree began to shake, its branches whispering against each other in something that almost sounded like speech as a tiny hole formed in its purple trunk next to Makoto's hand. Slowly, while the other four senshi watched in silence, the hole grew larger, a fist-sized golden stone emerging from the purple bark. Makoto held her palm under the hole, a final flash of green light from her staff pulling the crystal into her hand, the tree healing itself as soon as it was free of the foreign body it had guarded for so long. The senshi of thunder handed the crystal to her leader, whispering a word of thanks to the tree as she collapsed.

Ami fell to the ground beside her partner, helping the exhausted senshi move into a sitting position against the trunk, watching as a small stream of green light flowed from the tree back into Makoto, giving her strength to open her eyes. "Are you okay?"

"I will be," the Jovian replied, letting her talisman vanish. "She's a very old tree with a lot of power, and she's sorry for needing so much help ejecting that crystal."

Minako stared at the orange crystal in her hand, mesmerized by the gold striations filling its depths, the keystone silent at last. "It has so much power, so much promise . . . but I can sense the seal that holds it. This is the key to receiving the full power of Venus, but something is preventing it from . . . Ami, I see what you were talking about."

The genius nodded, carefully helping Makoto to her feet. "They are sealed by a power greater than a senshi's. I think the patron gods of the planets helped the Sailor Pluto of that time seal the crystals before hiding them. If we could just figure out the link between the planet crystals and the keystones, we could access our full power."

Rei felt a flash of power behind her, and she spun on one heel to find that their Outer counterparts were gone, the bag of supplies having been raided moments earlier. Chuckling, the Martian tapped her lover on the shoulder, nodding at the empty spot Haruka and Michiru had recently vacated. "I guess they decided to take off since the search is over. They don't like to waste time."

Minako glanced at Makoto and Ami, the Jovian nodding her head toward the forest as she took her lover's hand and headed for the supplies. They took some of the food and wrapped it in one of the blankets, Makoto using a rope from the pack to form a makeshift bag of her own. Tossing it over her shoulder, she led Ami back into the forest, the blue-haired Mercurian already blushing.

Minako stared after the pair, slipping her crystal into the pouch attached to her armor for that purpose, shaking her head slowly. It seemed that Makoto didn't like to waste time any more than Haruka did. The blonde furrowed her brow in confusion as she realized that she could no longer sense the position of her soul mate, shifting her muscles so that she could turn around and find the redhead.

The Martian's arms appeared on either side of the Venusian as she completed her turn, trapping her against the purple bark of the ancient tree, amethyst eyes pinning her in place as heat filled her slender frame. "No reason to waste time, I suppose," Rei whispered, crimson hair fluttering in the faint breeze wafting across the lake. She leaned forward to capture Minako's lips with hers, pausing when the blonde's slender fingers wrapped around her wrists. The Venusian slipped one knee forward between Rei's spread legs, smiling at her lover's shocked gasp. As soon as she sensed the redhead's concentration waver, she used her other leg to reverse their positions, slamming Rei's back against the trunk of the tree, holding her wrists against the purple bark.

"Sorry, love, but it's my turn to be on top." A flash of orange light from Minako's fingertips heralded the return of her talisman, the chain winding around Rei's wrists, somehow long enough to encircle the huge tree in the process. Rei glanced first at one wrist than the other, confusion darkening her amethyst eyes.

"How is it long enough for this?"

"In my hands, its length is only limited by my power." As if to illustrate her point, Minako grabbed the end of the chain and tugged, watching as it created more links from the glowing tip, the extra bit vanishing as soon as she let go. She let her hands wander down Rei's sides, searching for the clasps that held her armor on, smiling as her lover began to struggle against her bonds.

"I never said I wanted to be tied up."

"Your body says how much you like it, though," Minako purred, pulling the red and black leather jerkin off and dropping it to the ground, making quick work of the dark, skin-tight shirt the warrior had worn underneath. Her fingers danced across Rei's breasts, avoiding the nipples that so desperately wanted her attention as she leaned down to remove the rest of her lover's leather armor.

* * *

Makoto kept a light hold on Ami's hand as they slipped deeper into the colorful forest, desperate to leave the beach far behind before Rei's hormones overcame her reason. The Jovian had seen the fire in her fellow warrior's eyes, and she did not want to be anywhere near the pair when that passion finally erupted. Ami kept up with her punishing pace easily, the blush on her cheeks evidence of her own eagerness to leave their friends far behind. They moved through dense groves of white trees with silvery leaves, finally reaching a section of the forest where green was the predominant color, clusters of red trees with purple leaves brightening the area. Still a little tired from pulling the stone out of the _baythorne_ tree, Makoto dropped the bag of supplies to the ground and leaned against the nearest red tree, pulling strength from the plant life around her.

"Are you alright?"

"I'm fine," Makoto replied, her voice gaining strength. "What I did with that tree took more out of me than I thought." It certainly took more out of her than she was willing to admit to her leader.

"We could have stayed for a while, let you rest before running through the forest." Ami placed a gentle hand on Makoto's shoulder, concerned at the tense muscles flexing sporadically under her fingertips.

"Unless you were interested in participating in an orgy with the Venusian and the Martian, I think you should be grateful that I took you away before she lost control."

"Minako looked fine . . ."

Makoto glanced over her shoulder, amusement in her emerald eyes. "I wasn't talking about our esteemed leader. _Rei_ has been holding herself back for hours, and a sexually frustrated Martian warrior is not something you are ready to see, my love." Ami blushed, her next question obvious in her sapphire eyes. "Yes, Haruka was just as high-strung, but I'm pretty sure she's always an inch away from pouncing on _someone_ and she had the decency to vanish before doing it."

"Why does this place affect you warriors so?"

Makoto pushed herself away from the tree, hoisting the bag of supplies and grabbing the lowest branch to pull herself off the ground. "Follow me and I'll show you." Shorter than her lover, Ami had to jump in order to grab the first branch, but she was easily able to follow the Jovian after that. The tree they were in, a sturdy _blood berry ash_ , rose above the silvery _linyon_ _willows_ , the golden _jasiyion_ ,and the blue _sea sylphs_ , and the senshi climbed to the very top. Makoto sat on one of the tallest branches, even the smallest one easily able to hold her weight, pulling Ami up beside her. Hooking their supply bag securely over a nearby limb, the Senshi of Jupiter placed one hand on the trunk beside her, whispering a request to the tree. Though not as old as the _baythorne_ tree on the beach, the _blood berry ash_ she had chosen was still old and powerful. The branches around them shivered and moved, weaving together beside the senshi to create a nest, only the smallest gaps visible between the intertwined red branches. At the same time, the branches in front of them moved to the side, revealing a breathtaking view of the forest they had traversed and the sparkling waters of the bay in the distance.

Makoto pulled the blanket out of the supplies she had packed, spreading it across the nest the tree had created and gestured for Ami to join her in it. The genius leaned against the warrior's chest, smiling as Makoto's strong arms wrapped around her. "When you look out there, what do you see?"

"I see a spectacular example of biodiversity in a multitude of colors . . ." Ami trailed off as the arms around her tightened, the Jovian requesting her silence.

"You know what I see? A place that has never seen conflict. A world that has never known war." Makoto ran her fingers through Ami's hair, smiling gently as the Mercurian turned to her in shock. She would never have expected that answer. "I am a warrior, bred and trained to destroy. The calling of my god is to fight, to destroy enemies, to protect those we love. Someone like me dreams of a world where there is no war, a planet that knows only peace, and a life that does not require a soldier like me to defend it. This place . . . the simple beauty, the purity, they call to me. Rei and Haruka are the same as me, bred to fight and die, but we need this. As a fellow senshi, I think that you might one day understand even though you come from a planet of peace."

Ami smiled as Makoto's free hand began to release the straps of her traveling armor, the Jovian finally giving in to the beauty of the world as Rei and Haruka had already done. "I think I might see things your way, some day. For now, it is quite a beautiful view."

"Yes, it is," Makoto purred, her voice deeper than Ami had ever heard it before, emerald eyes never leaving her lover's neck. Every flutter of her fingers across Ami's armor loosened it more, revealing her lover's pale skin covered in the faintest blush. "You don't have to be nervous, Ami. No one can see us up here."

"Is that why your people are fond of trees?" Ami watched as the pile of clothes beside her grew, goose bumps covering her skin in the wake of her lover's touch despite the brilliant sun beating down on them through the protective dome. She tried to turn around to help Makoto remove her own armor, but the Jovian's arms held her firmly in place.

"We're fond of trees because they sing to us," she whispered in Ami's ear, her hands finding the smaller woman's breasts. She used one arm to pull Ami closer, her free hand sliding down toward her lover's core. "Sing for me, my love."

* * *

Haruka watched in silence as Makoto used her powers to pull Minako's planet crystal out of the huge tree, her stormy eyes flicking to the bag of supplies at her feet. Silently, only her wife's sapphire eyes watching her, the wind senshi opened the bag and gathered the few things she and Michiru would need for a few hours at the beach, not even bothering to close the pack before turning to her partner. She felt Michiru's hand slip into hers as Minako stared at her newfound planet crystal, the wind and sea senshi vanishing an instant later. The search complete, they were now free to enjoy Sunrise Bay.

The pair reappeared on the private beach under the promontory where they arrived hours earlier, the waves of the huge lake rolling gently onto the white sand. Haruka dropped the supplies and pulled Michiru into her arms, content to just hold her for a few minutes. "I didn't know the hike tired you out so much," Michiru teased, already in the process of removing Haruka's armor. "We can go for a quick dip to cool off."

"I'm sure that if I get in the water with you, _cooling off_ would be the last thing on my mind." Michiru's armor, being Neptunian in origin, was more for show than anything else, so it only took an instant for Haruka to strip her, the sea senshi running for the crashing waves as soon as she was naked. Shrugging, Haruka chased after her.

Michiru's element was the sea, but a giant freshwater lake was water enough for someone who had not been able to swim since days before her coma. Slicing through the waves, Michiru spun underwater to watch her lover follow, pushing to the surface for a quick breath of air before diving down again. Patient emerald eyes watched her dance with the waves, the blonde content to enjoy the sight of her siren, free in her element for the first time in days. Watching Michiru, Haruka was able to forget about the coming battle, the book of prophecies, the problems brewing on her world . . . everything melted away and there was nothing except her aqua-haired siren embraced by the gentle waves.

Michiru vanished underwater, appearing in front of Haruka moments later, a mischievous glint in her sapphire eyes. Taking a quick breath, the Neptunian dove again, her long hair ticking the blonde's stomach as two slender hands came to rest on her hips. Haruka's gold eyes widened as she realized what her wife intended to do, but she couldn't exactly close her legs while treading water and she couldn't escape Michiru's strong grip. She gasped as Michiru's tongue entered her, the aquanette moving one hand from her hip to her clit, pushing the blonde over the edge as quickly as possible. Michiru couldn't hold her breath forever, but she wanted to please her lover in _her_ element, the blonde's scream barely audible through the gentle waves.

Haruka had nothing to hold onto when she came, her fingers twining desperately in Michiru's hair as every muscle in her body tensed. She felt herself begin to sink, Michiru's arms wrapping around her waist as the siren surfaced, the smaller woman offering her strength to keep the warrior afloat. Haruka's gold-emerald eyes opened as the final aftershocks of her unexpected orgasm faded from her body, smiling at her wife's unrepentant sapphire-teal eyes. Michiru helped the shaky blonde swim back to the shore, finding a blanket among the supplies that Haruka had dropped and spreading it on the sand. She forced the blonde to sit, kneeling between her raised knees. "I've wanted to do that since the first time I saw you naked," Michiru whispered, one hand teasing Haruka's breast while the other slowly slid up her leg.

Haruka's hand stopped Michiru's exploration, the blonde slowly pushing against her lover until the Neptunian was lying on the blanket, the bright sun caressing her creamy skin. "The list of things I've wanted to do to you since I first saw you naked would make even a Venusian blush." She leaned down and feathered her lips across Michiru's pale stomach, smiling when her lover gasped and fingers began to play with her feathery blonde locks. "What?"

"I love you like this," Michiru whispered, the muscles under Haruka's lips flexing with her words. "I especially like that you can sense when I have something to say."

"You love me like what?"

"When you're not hiding behind anything. When all of your masks are gone and you're beautiful and perfectly balanced. Mostly I like you naked."

Haruka chuckled as she moved up Michiru's body, nibbling on one of her lover's breasts while her longer-fingered hand encompassed the other. She loved Michiru's breasts; they were the perfect size for her hand, hardened nipple poking the center of her palm. "I like you naked, too." She sucked Michiru's nipple into her mouth and purred, straddling the aquanette's body as she arched her back and gasped. Haruka's free hand slipped between Michiru's legs and slipped inside her, the smaller woman moaning at the unexpected intrusion. She thrust into her lover at a punishing pace, one hand on Michiru's hip to still her squirming while she continued to nibble her breast. Haruka felt Michiru raise her knee between her legs, and she leaned back against the swimmer's thigh, grateful for the stimulation. She ground against Michiru's leg at the same speed she thrust into her lover, already very close to her next orgasm as she felt her wife tense. Haruka gasped as she came again, emerald eyes widening in shock as Michiru screamed with the power of her own orgasm.

When the heat of the aftershocks finally faded from her body, Haruka glanced up from between Michiru's breasts to find her wife's sapphire eyes laughing at her. "You screamed."

"I did."

"I thought you didn't scream."

"I don't when people can hear me," Michiru returned, her fingers playing with Haruka's blonde hair. "Right now, no one can hear us."

Haruka chuckled, the wind dancing around the pair as she pulled Michiru into her arms and kissed the top of her head. "I guess I shouldn't waste this opportunity, then."

Clouds began to gather over the Bay, the wind rushing out to meet them as Michiru's stormy eyes met Haruka's. "No, I guess you shouldn't."

* * *

Rei screamed as she struggled against her bonds, amethyst eyes tinted red as she looked down at the blonde kneeling before her, fire dancing across her fingers. Minako's fingers moved from Rei's hip to hover over her core, teasing the Martian as her free hand struggled to hold the warrior still. "Don't burn the tree down," Minako whispered, blue eyes rising to meet red-tinted amethyst. She watched Rei reign in her wild power, her lover desperate to be released, to be allowed to touch her golden goddess, but Minako's chain was stronger than it looked.

"Let me go, Mina. Please. Let me touch you." Something in Rei's eyes made Minako relent at last, the chain binding her wrists fading into orange light as the crimson-haired Martian collapsed. She recovered in an instant, a grin spreading across her face as she grabbed Minako and pulled her to the center of the beach, pushing her back onto the sand. "Finally," she growled, leaning down to bite Minako's neck. The fire she had been struggling to control exploded from her fingertips at last, arrows of flame arcing into the sand around her. Minako smiled and released her own power, light glowing from her slender form as the sand around them melted into gold-tinted glass. The fire around them scorched the ground, protecting the Martian and her lover as Rei buried her fingers in Minako's heat, finally free to touch her Venusian.

Over the bay, a storm began to gather, winds rushing across the water to fan Rei's flames as the rain-heavy clouds threatened the lovers on the beach.

* * *

Ami arched against Makoto's arm, the Jovian's breasts against her back as fingers danced within her. Makoto bit her neck while her free hand played with one of Ami's breasts, the trees around them singing in the sudden wind. Ami reached blindly for Makoto's core, slipping her fingers inside her warrior as she struggled to match the Jovian's punishing pace, a scream tearing from her throat as she reached her climax. Makoto followed her a moment later, relaxing into the tree-branch nest as her heartbeat slowly returned to normal. Ami twisted around in Makoto's arms, a devious smile on her face as she slid down her lover's body, pinching nipples as she went. Makoto groaned as Ami's tongue found her core, the Mercurian eager to please her lover.

As a vicious storm gathered over the bay, winds whipping at the trees, lightning began to dance through the clouds and the waters of the bay began to pound against the shore with a fury they had never known before. The elements raged while the six senshi enjoyed their vacation.

Wrapping up her tour of the Venusian capital city thousands of miles away, Serenity paused in her shopping and smiled knowingly, waving away Asakaze's question. Her senshi deserved a day of peace.

Planets away, garnet eyes sore from hours of staring at time stream iterations, Setsuna froze, one hand reaching for her Time Key. The Garnet Orb showed her a massive storm, lightning and fire raging within its depths, and she frowned at the image.

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **AN2:** One more chapter before the meeting. The next chapter will have significantly more plot, but the senshi deserved a break. Also, for anyone who has read _CSS: Blood of the Rose_ , the dome that was destroyed in the Uranian attack on Venus was the one over Sunrise Bay. This scene is pretty much the reason she surrendered after that. I'm not sure I expected Michiru and Minako to tie until I wrote the scene. Haruka's commentary was pretty much just my thought process as the fight progressed, and I realized that neither could win at the same time that Haruka said it.


	19. Fire Soul

**Chapter 19: Fire Soul**

* * *

_February 15, 8983 – February 16, 8983_

* * *

Tranquility stared at the screen, white knuckles gripping the arms of his chair. The god had not moved in hours, forgetting even to mimic the human action of _breathing_ as his Cupids watched in silence. From where they stood, the three Leaders could not read the highly complex script filling the air before their leader, but they knew that the data crystal delivered by a former acolyte hours earlier contained information so important and so valuable that it had shocked a god. In patient devotion, they waited.

"She hid this from me." Tranquility's words shattered the silence in the small room, his companions neither moving nor responding as they waited for him to continue. "The book these prophecies are from . . . I remember it. Almost ten thousand years ago, when we first created the Silver Millennium, Se had a fit of prophetic visions in her lonely castle on Pluto. She wrote them down, barely understanding anything she saw, but the visions frightened her. I remember Serenity telling me that Se saw the End and did not want to ever remember that again. This book . . . she hid it on Earth. How did the senshi find it? Why would they keep this a secret from me?"

"What does it say, My Lord?"

"Many things," Tranquility replied, waving one hand at the screen as he scrolled to the first prophecy that interested him. "This one is the one that I remember, the one Serenity herself repeated the day she disappeared, the one Beryl saw, but this book records the full version. _The Silver One cannot return until the Moonlight shines in the Darkness and the Wind and the Sea give birth to the Sun. On that day, her soul will awaken from its host and herald the destruction of the Earth and the dawn of a new crystal . . ._ something. Even I do not know this last word. Serenity said that her return would be heralded by the birth of the Messiah of Light and here is the prophecy relating to that. _In the darkest hour, when all hope is lost, a Messiah of Light will rise. She will have power without end, love without reserve, and strength beyond measure. When the Three Talismans gather, they will light the way to her birth._ "

"Does that mean everything will have to come to an end for the Messiah to be called?" The Cupid Beta leader, a woman with black hair and striking ice-blue eyes watched her god's reaction carefully, eager to help him unravel the prophecy.

"Possibly. Moonlight shines in the Darkness . . . Sailor Moonlight? If this part refers to her, then we might have a great deal of work to do. The Moonlight Crystal has been sealed away for thousands of years and only a great tragedy can call it forth again."

The Beta walked forward and leaned over Tranquility's shoulder, her pale eyes reading the next prophecy on the screen. "I've heard this one before. Well, I've heard part of it. Isn't this the Ancient Law so revered by the Senshi Queens? _The Moon will Rise over a great kingdom, shining in the sky for thousands of years, until the day that the Sun turns in its sleep. It will Call but no one will be able to answer. On that day, the Sun will cry as dark blood soaks the ground and loneliness grips the Dark One. The galaxy will be consumed by the Scream of Time and the Silver Moon will fall to the Earth in a harvest of desperate ruin when the lights of two star seeds combine. The capricious Tear will shatter its last and only the Golden Light of dreams can preserve the hopes of the future._ It's much longer than the one I learned in school. If this really is the end of the Silver Millennium, perhaps the harvest of desperate ruin—which I assume refers to Sailor Saturn since _harvest_ is the common term for her power—will be a darkness great enough to call the Messiah of Light."

The other two Leaders, Pi and Xi, also stepped forward to read Tranquility's screen, the Xi leader narrowing his eyes. "Beryl said that we have to destroy the Wind and the Sea, and I think that her reasoning may be sound. Have you read this part?

_Scattered to the harsh Winds of Time_   
_Bound by a desperate thought;_   
_She will seek rebirth when all hope is gone_   
_And all love at last is lost._   
_The Sword will scream, the Mirror break,_   
_And the Orb will mourn them all;_   
_Three talismans crossed will summon the Grail_   
_And release her tortured soul._

"The Grail is what can summon the Messiah, and the Messiah will herald the rebirth of Serenity. She cannot return until all hope is lost and the wielders of the powers of Sailor Uranus and Neptune have died and been reborn. If the Silver Millennium continues as it has, the Sword and Mirror will never die and Serenity can never return."

"They have to die," Pi confirmed, crossing his arms over his chest. "It's not like they won't be reborn in the next generation if the talismans are inside them."

"I can't kill them," the god whispered, scanning the rest of the prophecies for anything useful. "There are laws that bind the Gods to prevent us from interfering in the affairs of the mortals. I can make Cupids and Se can interact with them as Setsuna, but even we cannot kill. You, my trusted Cupid Leaders, are bound by the same restrictions."

"Then we will find someone who is not," the Beta Leader replied, a wild light in her ice blue eyes. "We will bring about Serenity's return no matter the cost!"

* * *

Serenity smiled at the double row of guards on either side of her as she waited patiently for the Martian Royal Family to appear in the courtyard. The people of the red planet tended to like to make their visitors wait to increase the impact of their appearance, but the Moon Princess didn't mind. Rei hadn't exactly told her parents who was visiting, only that she was coming home for a day to visit. Since she and her mother had parted on less than amicable terms, it was no wonder that the small group was still standing in the dusty courtyard while a dry breeze gusted around them.

"Will you stop that? It's hard enough to keep my hair tangle-free as it is." Rei, one arm around Minako's waist, glared at Haruka through dark amethyst eyes as the wind finally died down. Serenity glanced at the two warriors, wondering how Rei had known that Haruka was creating the wind, wondering how a senshi could do something like that in her civilian form. The Uranian never reacted to the Martian's hissed words, her suit colored in dark blue and green to match her wife's rich emerald dress, but there was a strange light in her stormy green eyes that told her fellow senshi how amused her friend's words had made her.

"I have been wondering something, actually," Michiru murmured, her teal eyes lighting on Rei's blonde partner as she ran a hand through her aqua locks. "How does that work, logistically? Don't you both get your hair tangled? Or do you tie it back before you . . . become intimate?"

Rei's face darkened to match her crimson hair, Minako giggling beside her. "Is that really a question you should be asking?"

"Minako doesn't seem like she minds the question," Haruka replied, her husky voice barely raised above the soft tones her wife had used. "Michiru's hair is short enough that it doesn't get in the way, and Makoto and Ami are in the same boat as us, but you two both have excessively long hair. Whoever is on top is probably fine, but the person on bottom is guaranteed to get tangles."

"By Serenity, why are we talking about this?!" The Moon Princess giggled at the curse, having always been amused by people swearing in her mother's name. Rei glared at the smaller blonde, sighing and rolling her eyes as she turned back to Michiru. "Yes, there are times that my hair gets tangled."

"And when you're on top?"

"Minako has to be tied up. She's too feisty otherwise; it's the only way I've found to keep her still." Minako blushed at that, burying her face in the crimson hair her lover had just been discussing. Makoto chuckled at the other warrior's words, tilting her head as she noticed some odd red scratches on Minako's neck.

"Minako, what happened to your neck?"

If it was possible, the blonde's blush darkened, one hand flying up to cover her neck. "The sand . . . it's not as soft as it looks."

"Your back must be a mess, then."

"It will heal," Minako replied, pulling away from her lover as she regarded her fellow senshi. "And what was that storm? I didn't know we could summon our powers like that in civilian form, other than the occasional wind our beloved Uranian likes to grace us with." She nodded toward Haruka at her words, but the intensity in her light blue eyes never changed. "I've never heard of senshi being able to summon their power at will."

"Setsuna can do it." The six senshi turned to Serenity in shock, the small princess shrugging. "I've seen her summon her Time Staff and teleport away in civilian form. I've seen her summon images in her Orb and I've never seen her as Sailor Pluto. Maybe having her planet crystal gives her more power than you?"

"Maybe it's the talisman," Michiru returned, touching the sword on Haruka's hip. "You always have yours, my love, so the wind always obeys you. It has since your visit to the Moon, hasn't it?"

Haruka shrugged, running her long fingers over her sword's jeweled scabbard. "Yes. It didn't feel any different yesterday than it did on the Moon. It's always there . . . the wind is always whispering to me, asking me questions, begging for direction. When I am with Michiru, I lose control of it."

"Like I lost control of my fire powers yesterday?"

"Yes, I saw the beach you glassed," Makoto chuckled, twisting her fingers to summon her talisman. "The glass was gold, filled with light. It's beautiful and the people of Venus will admire it for years to come." She stared at the staff in her hand, tracing her fingers across the runes. "I summoned my talisman on that beach and Haruka always has hers. If that is the trigger, then when did the rest of you summon your talismans?"

Michiru reached into a hidden pocket of her dress, revealing the Deep Aqua Mirror. "I always have mine with me. Considering how long as my soul screamed for my talisman, I cannot stand to let it out of my sight." She waved one hand at Ami as she hid her mirror again, the genius tilting her head to one side. "You showed me your harp during that insanely long trek, remember? And Rei got skittish when the wind picked up and pulled her bow on that defenseless orange plant." Rei shrugged dismissively as all eyes turned to Minako, the senshi realizing that they had not seen their leader use her talisman that day, despite the light Makoto had seen inside the glass on the beach.

The blonde shook her head at the sudden scrutiny, glancing at Rei for permission before speaking. "I summoned my chain just after you and Ami left."

Haruka reached over and grabbed Rei's wrist, pushing up her purple sleeve to reveal a line of very familiar chain-shaped welts marring her smooth skin. The Martian jerked her hand away, pulling her sleeve back into place as a slow grin graced her face. "Why do you think I glassed the beach?"

A cacophony of trumpets effectively ended the conversation, the seven princesses turning to face the palace as the royal family arrived at last. Rikuriko led the small procession, most of her red and gold hair pinned back into an intricate set of braids under her golden crown with a few strands free to frame her face, pink eyes wary of meeting her daughter again after their last encounter. Akaneiro, a native of Jupiter, boasted short, curly indigo locks—one of the rarer shades from Europa, his home moon—his red eyes widening almost imperceptibly as he spotted the young High Princess among the gathered Senshi. The interruption in his stride made his son pause, the tall red-eyed High Prince tilting his head curiously at the gathered princesses. His crimson hair was cut short in a popular warrior style, the black highlights more visible than when it had been longer. Kazan stared at the princesses in confusion for a moment before he recognized Michiru, his eyes narrowing in fury at the blonde man holding the Neptunian close. Haruka noticed his scrutiny at once, the warrior pushing her wife behind her protectively as she stood taller and glared at the prince, daring him to challenge her.

The last member of the party was a woman clearly younger than Rei, her pink and red hair flowing down her back in unrestrained curly waves, a thin circlet on her brow to mark her position, her lavender eyes both innocent and entrancing at the same time. She smiled politely at the gathered princesses, but her eyes were drawn to Haruka, to the only masculine noble in the group. The blonde shook her head as the two royals stared her down, one jealous of her obvious relationship with Michiru and the other determined to seduce her. _Sometimes I should just dress like a girl._

Michiru giggled softly from her position beside her wife, sapphire-tinted teal eyes sparkling as she squeezed Haruka's arm. _You should._

_Sometimes you should stay out of my head._

"Rei, you didn't tell us that you were bringing guests." Rikuriko's voice was welcoming despite her chiding words, the tall queen's posture indicating that she was eager to keep things cordial, despite her two non-senshi children watching Haruka intently. Rei smiled warmly at the queen, clearly willing to be friendly.

"It's good to see you, Mother. When I sent the original message, it hadn't been decided if the High Princess would travel with us. We have been so busy training that I must have forgotten to update you." She gestured toward her companions, each of the senshi stepping forward as she introduced them. "You know Princess Serenity, of course. This is Minako, the High Princess and senshi of Venus, Ami the High Princess and senshi of Mercury, Makoto, the High Princess and senshi of Jupiter, and Michiru, the High Princess and senshi of Neptune."

Michiru offered Rikuriko a perfect curtsy, her teal eyes sparkling in the morning light. "I didn't know that Shousha had passed on her henshin stick," Kazan commented smoothly, his eyes never leaving the Neptunian's face.

Haruka narrowed her emerald eyes, only Michiru's gentle touch on her arm preventing her from skewering the prince. His words had interrupted the introductions, but Haruka was not willing to let his obvious interest in her wife go unchallenged. "She was dying. It was necessary." Her husky voice was hard and unyielding, the blonde using her deepest register possible in an attempt to intimidate the older royal, but the Martian did not scare easily.

He crossed his arms over his chest, pointedly exposing his sword as he glared at the taller blonde. "Who are you to know so much about the gentle princess? A low-born warrior from the rough, backwards moons of Uranus shouldn't be allowed anywhere near her gentle grace."

That was too much. Rei and Makoto reached for Haruka at the same second, but the blonde was way too fast for them. She slipped free of Michiru's hold, moving too fast for any of the Martian warriors to see as she drew her sword and laid it against Kazan's throat, her free arm pinning his arms just above his waist and her chest pressed against his back. "I think you underestimate your opponent," Haruka hissed, all of the dark fury bestowed upon her by her Goddess shaking her lean frame. Wind screamed across the courtyard as the guards drew arrows and fought against the gusts to point them at the blonde, all of them struggling to get a bead on her and end the threat to their prince.

"Lower your weapons." Rei stepped forward, holding her arms out as the symbol of Mars glowed from her forehead. " _I said_ _lower your weapons!"_ She spoke the command in Martian, her tone brokering no argument. The guards reluctantly lowered their bows, Rikuriko and Akaneiro watching the confrontation in silence. The blonde warrior was faster and stronger than their son, and Martians would not protect a weakling from his own mistakes. "Rukaze is the future King of Neptune and you will not point weapons at him. Kazan, you are not the future king of _anything_ and I suggest you apologize. Ruka is neither low-born nor _deaf_."

Haruka grinned from beside Kazan's ear, pushing the Space Sword against the exposed skin of the prince's neck. "Michiru is _my_ wife, little prince, and I suggest you remember your place in the Silver Millennium." Kazan grunted and pushed against the arm holding him as Haruka's sword drew a trickle of blood from the prince's neck. "If I ever catch you looking at her again, I will remove your lecherous little eyes." Haruka released the Martian and pushed him away, sheathing her sword as she returned to the group of senshi. Kazan watched the blonde walk away as Michiru sidled up to Momoiro, the aquanette taking the Martian's hand and leaning close to her ear.

"I saw you looking at my partner," she whispered venomously, only the Martian able to hear. Haruka glanced over her shoulder at the exchange, her wind bringing the words to her, and she smiled as her wife's possessive streak finally reared its head. "Ruka is mine and always will be. Don't waste your time or mine chasing something you can _never_ have. Do I make myself clear?" Momoiro nodded nervously, frightened lavender eyes never leaving the Neptunian as she returned to her wife. Michiru let Haruka wrap an arm around her once more, smiling at the Martian royals as if nothing had happened. "Please, let me introduce my partner, _Kazemaru_ Rukaze, youngest child of Fourth War Queen Ono Hikari of Uranus."

"Pleased to meet you," Rikuriko returned, offering the blonde warrior a polite bow. "I had not heard that you wed, Michiru."

"It will be announced at my birthday celebration in a couple of weeks. I assume you have already received your invitations?"

Rikuriko nodded. "We have, and we will all be honored to attend such a momentous occasion. Kazan and Momoiro are especially looking forward to it." She turned her pink gaze on her children, silently commanding them to behave as Kazan stood and took his position beside his father. The prince bowed in response, the smile on his face nearly a grimace of either pain or loathing, and the princess offered a shaky smile, as well. "For today, however, I am told that you have training to do."

"We do," Minako replied, her blue eyes narrowed slightly. She had observed the entire scene between her senshi and Rei's siblings, but she did not fully understand either the provocations or the conclusion.

"And will you be staying the night?"

"If it won't be too much of an imposition," Minako returned, offering Rikuriko her most gracious smile. As the leader of the Inner Senshi, she spoke for the group, hoping that the previous confrontation with Rei's mother would not endanger their mission.

Clearly, Rikuriko was willing to declare peace with her daughter's soul mate. "Of course not," Rikuriko replied, gesturing for some of the nearby servants to gather the bags piled behind the group of princesses. "I will have the upper guest wing prepared for you at once. Where will you be training?"

"Deimos, the Kirash Crater."

"Rei, it's the middle of winter there. It's freezing! How do you plan to train in that kind of weather?"

"We will wear plenty of cold-weather gear to protect us in our civilian forms, but as senshi we will barely feel the cold at all. Anyway, Serenity picked the place, since she has never seen snow before, and I did warn her about the cold."

"I don't mind cold weather," the princess confirmed, eagerness in her light blue eyes. "Rei promised me snow today."

"Are you sure it's wise to take the High Princess into the wilds of Deimos?"

"I trust my senshi with my life," Serenity replied, her soft voice full of authority and pride. "They would never endanger me. Besides, Rei is the senshi of fire; if anything happens she can take care of us."

Rei reached out and took Serenity's hand, bowing her head to her mother. "I'll take them inside and get some warm clothes for Deimos." A servant appeared before the group and bowed, indicating that the princesses should follow him, leading them away as Rikuriko grabbed her daughter's arm. Rei understood her mother's message without the need for words, silently following the queen into the palace. They moved into a small room off the main hallway, Rikuriko's pink eyes intense in the dim light.

"Are you still with her?"

"I am."

Rikuriko sighed, shaking her head. "I had hoped you would have gotten over that by now. There have been a lot of suitors here to see you."

Rei shrugged, amethyst eyes hard and unyielding. "I'm not interested. I'm never going to be interested. You have paraded dozens of men before me since I was fifteen, but I never showed any interest in any of them. The instant Minako walked in the room, I wanted her. I've never wanted anyone before, man or woman. She is my soul mate, Mother, and I won't hurt her by marrying some man. I'm marrying her." It was the first time she had admitted that she wanted to marry Minako, and Rei paused for a moment to savor that feeling. Rikuriko narrowed her eyes, prepared to argue with her child, but the look of joy on Rei's face gave her pause.

"What do you think will happen if you do that? How can you continue your lineage or rule without a king?"

Rei, having expected more bite in her mother's words, paused as she considered how to answer. "A queen can rule with or without a king. Shousha is proof of that, and I have heard that she was the only one in charge even when Tsuyu was alive. As for a child . . . there's an old Uranian custom that Mina and I were considering in order to continue our lineages. I'm planning to take a Consort."

"A what? Isn't that like the leader of a harem?"

Rei chuckled. "How does that word translate so badly? A Consort is a man chosen to father a Queen's child when her official mate cannot do so. Marrying Mina wouldn't stop me from birthing an heir. She has a couple of cousins who would be willing to have the title and honor of fathering the next princess of Mars."

"And you would ask Kazan to do it for her? I saw the way she looked at your brother; she would never sleep with him."

"As if a Martian could share her mate, in any case. No, Ami told us about this technique from her world called artificial insemination. They wouldn't have to sleep together for him to impregnate her." Rei reached out and ran her fingers through her mother's red and gold hair, smiling at the older woman. "You don't have to worry about us, Mother."

"I see that now." Rikuriko pulled her daughter into her arms, gently kissing the smaller woman's forehead in the same spot Ares had weeks earlier. "I can see why our god chose you, my child. You are stronger than me." She shook her head when Rei opened her mouth to protest, pulling away and freeing an ancient golden chain from her other necklaces. She handed the necklace and the ruby red keystone to Rei, waiting until the current Sailor Mars took it before speaking again. "You are stronger, and Ares was right. You are going to be the finest Sailor Mars in the history of the Silver Millennium. Take this; it belongs to you, now. And make her happy."

"I will."

* * *

"So, what was that all about?"

Michiru shrugged, pulling her scarf tight to block out any cold wind. Haruka, Space Sword visible outside her heavy coat, tried to keep the angry gusts to a minimum, but the unstable nature of the moon prevented her from being completely successful. "Kazan . . . was one of my suitors." She _felt_ her wife tense in fury, sighing as she placed a gentle hand on Haruka's arm to comfort her. "Ruka, you know that I refused every suitor for three years. You're the only man or woman for me." The blonde relaxed, her emerald eyes satisfied behind the goggles that protected her from the bitter wind. "Kazan wasn't like my other suitors. Most of my off-world suitors would accept my politely-worded rejection letters and move on, but Kazan didn't. He was persistent."

"That sounds like my brother." Rei waved her hand dismissively before glancing down at the pulsing red stone in her gloved hand. "He never gives up. I imagine all of the princes have been courting you, though."

"They have. Ken'nin and Eiki sent their suits two years ago, Kazan sent his three years ago, and Lord Kounin of Gaoren on Mercury sent his last year. I even received a missive from Mochi, the oldest son of Fourth War Queen Ono Hikari. None of them ever met me or truly knew me, you know, and I refused them all, but Kazan has sent messages every month since then. Some of them he sent directly to my mother."

"And?" Haruka's voice was colder than the wind screaming in their ears, but Michiru knew that her anger was directed at the Martian prince. Serenity glanced up at her oft-unstable Uranian senshi, worry in her light blue eyes.

"Mother said I had to wed by my twenty-first birthday. She said that if I did not pick someone, she would accept Kazan for me."

The group stopped at Michiru's words, the wind suddenly too strong for them to push through. Snow flew up from the ground, creating a small localized blizzard, as Haruka tried desperately to control her fury. The fire in her emerald eyes said it all: _I will kill that boy when next we meet._ Michiru and Serenity stepped forward, each placing a hand on the blonde's arms, offering their loving support despite the layers of warm clothes that prevented physical contact. "Michiru picked _you_ , Haruka, and not that arrogant, self-important prince. Release this fury, please." Serenity knew she could resort to Lunarian and force Haruka to calm down, but she wanted the wind senshi to have the chance to be in control of herself, not a slave to a promise she made fourteen years earlier. Michiru didn't say anything, but her sapphire eyes were full of love as she smiled at her wife. A moment later, the wind finally died back down, leaving silence behind as Haruka pulled Michiru into her arms.

"I can't stand the thought of him with you."

"He doesn't have me. He never will, because I found you. Do not worry about what might have been, Ruka."

Rei glanced back at her keystone as the Neptunian calmed her lover, narrowing her amethyst eyes as the pattern of flashing light changed slightly. She stepped forward again, her boots crunching in the icy snow, and the light brightened. "I think we're close to the planet crystal." She moved forward again, turning toward the set of low hills they had been steadily approaching for the last hour, Minako and Serenity close on her heels. Makoto and Ami followed more slowly, Haruka and Michiru taking up the rear-guard position as usual. They reached the low, snow-covered hill in silence, the keystone's glow steady and finally devoid of any flickering. "Now what?"

Haruka stepped forward from her position behind the group, slipping her gloves off and holding her left hand out to Rei. Confused, the flame senshi also removed her gloves, wrapping the keystone's chain around her right wrist as she took Haruka's hand with her left. "Summon your bow so you can access your power," the wind senshi directed, the bitter cold already turning her hands red. Rei's bow appeared on her back and she summoned her flame in her right hand, using her power to warm her left hand enough to ward off the cold. Haruka nodded and summoned her wind, _pulling_ on Rei's fire with her senshi strength, combining the two energies in her left hand and _pushing_ it at the hill before them. The heated air melted the snow and dried the ground at the same time, the pile of white fading to reveal a stone mound covered in ancient carvings and letters.

The other senshi watched in silence as Haruka and Rei dropped their hands, slipping back into their gloves before the Martian stepped forward. "Hmm . . . I don't think I can read this. It's an _ancient_ Martian dialect, if the simplicity of the carvings is any indication."

Ami leaned down beside her friend, tracing her fingers over the rough grooves. "I think the dialect is older than the carving. The words are from the Maitán Dynasty or possibly the later Jyuûkashi Dynasty that ruled all of Deimos before Mars annexed its moons nine millennia ago, but the carving was done by a precision laser cutter, and that technology is maybe five thousand years old. From the flash burning on the edges of the grooves, my guess is that it was done with a FireWing 42- or 45-series and they weren't even widely used anywhere except Mercury until about thirty-five hundred years ago."

"Can you read it?"

"Probably." Ami summoned her computer and pulled up one of her files on ancient languages, comparing the runes on the stone to the translation matrix on the screen before her. "Okay, it seems that this is the tomb of a Queen from the Martian Royal Line, which supports my theory of a post-Jyuûkashi burial. This here lists her accomplishments . . . she was Sailor Mars, of course, she had seven children . . . when she was nineteen she won the title of Royal Commander and took a . . . this can't be right. It says she took a _wife_ at the age of twenty-two."

"I thought senshi marriages were forbidden."

"Well, we did read in one of those files that the senshi used to marry each other over three thousand years ago," Minako reminded her partner, staring at the runes curiously. "Does it name her wife?"

"Um, I haven't even found her name yet. Oh, her wife is buried here, with her. It says that they both fought in the Antares Uprising . . . Serenity save us. This is the last Sailor Mars to have the complete Planet Crystal. This is the one whose marriage to Venus forced Sailor Pluto to create the keystones." Ami lapsed into silence, unwilling to finish translating the rest of the tomb. She touched the runes that named the two women buried beneath the stone, tears in her eyes beneath her goggles.

"They had to have known that their daughters would always live apart from their soul mates. For a Venusian to _know_ that is a torture greater than I could ever wish upon an enemy." Minako ran her gloves fingers across the runes, a sad smile on her face. "My ancestor, the last of us to be with her soul mate."

Rei climbed onto the hill of stone and sat, legs crossed, above where her ancestor's bones had been laid to rest. She closed her eyes and placed her hands on her legs, the keystone on her wrist glowing a fierce red that soon covered her whole body. Glancing at the other senshi, Michiru summoned her mirror and focused her power on the senshi of flame, the similarity between their powers letting her project what Rei was seeing.

" _It's not fair." The tall Martian woman, her dark purple hair streaked in red, clenched her fist around her planet crystal, the stone glowing faintly. Her red eyes met the sad, dark ones of her patron god, but Ares could not argue with his avatar. "We will be weak. We will never be able to fight as we did in Antares again. Our children will be weaker than us, and if anything threatens the Silver Millennium they won't be able to defend it." The lines on her face made her look old, worn, and tired; it was the face of a warrior who was done fighting._

" _I know, Reiko, but what can we do? Se is right; if the planets combine, darkness will swallow the Silver Millennium. Everyone will die."_

" _So you would sacrifice us and our hearts and our children's hearts instead?" The woman standing beside Queen Reiko spoke as Ares silenced, her golden eyes as tired as the Martian's, her golden hair marking her as a Venusian while the chain around her waist marked her as the Queen. Reiko's wife, Minami._

" _I argued against it," Aphrodite whispered from beside Ares, "but Se was one of the gods who created the Silver Millennium. Her rules, past and future, hold sway over us. She ordered the patron gods to bind the powers of the planets. Your daughter is already strong in her own right, Minami; she will not be powerless."_

_Minami nodded, her eyes hard as she handed her golden planet crystal to Aphrodite. "Take it, then, and hide it somewhere my descendants will never look. The keystone that you want to create, give it to Kinae. I won't be returning to Venus." She unhooked the Love Me Chain from her waist, passing it to her god as she took Reiko's hand. Silently, the Martian handed her bow to Ares, never releasing her planet crystal._

" _Bind my planet, God of War, and I will hide the crystal somewhere none of my children will ever look."_

" _Where?"_

" _Here." Reiko drew her short sword and stabbed herself through her belly, slicing across and up to make sure that her death was quick. "I will not live a weakling." With that, she fell to the ground, crystal still in her hand as her blood covered the dry, rocky ground. Ares stared at his avatar in horror, a single tear falling from his dark eye. The tear solidified into a ruby-red stone, landing in the god's outstretched hands. On the ground, the Fire Dust Crystal of Mars went dark, its power sealed away._

" _No!" Aphrodite grabbed Minami's hand as the Venusian drew her own short sword, golden eyes dark. "Please, don't do this."_

" _I will not live without my soul mate, and I cannot live knowing that I doomed my child to never be happy. I have three daughters to carry on in my place, and Reiko has four children of her own. I imagine the other senshi are making the same choice today, none of us able to live with Setsuna's decision."_

" _You don't have to."_

" _We do!" The Venusian's voice was hard and cold, the commander of the senshi having lost all gentleness when her wife died. "The only thing that can seal the stone is the tear of a god, and we have to die for you to feel that sorrow. I'm sorry, but this is the path you all chose for us. Goodbye." Without another word or even a grunt of pain, Minami followed her wife into the next life._

_Standing over the crumpled body of her senshi, Aphrodite cried uncontrollably, her first tear solidifying into a golden-orange keystone as Ares waved his hand. Rocks grew to cover the bodies, sealing them into a tomb both to hide the Mars Planet Crystal and to protect them from scavengers. "We have to go tell Narumi and Kinae," Ares whispered, pulling Aphrodite into his arms. They vanished as snow began to fall over the grave._

Rei fell to the ground, shaking, as the last of the vision faded. Her amethyst eyes met Minako's pale blue ones, and the Martian nodded. "That was us, Mina. Reiko and Minami were our past incarnations. I could _feel_ it." Minako nodded, the other senshi not sure what to say as Rei ran her fingers over the stone beneath her. "They must have had consorts to father their children, like we plan to do. I guess Narumi and Kinae came here and marked the grave afterwards. The snow . . . it has snowed in the Kirash Crater for three thousand years, but no one was ever sure why."

"Do you know how to get the crystal?"

Rei nodded, tears in her eyes. "She knew, so I know. Mina, come up here with me." The Venusian joined her partner, turning to face a single smooth stone that seemed to jut out from the rest of the pile. Rei removed her glove and pulled a small dagger from her belt, making a tiny incision across her palm. Minako copied her actions, letting Rei cut into her hand, the blood welling up from the identical wounds and dripping onto the loose stone before them. It began to glow with a fiery light as their senshi healing sealed the cuts and they put their gloves back on, waiting. A crack formed on top of the stone and spread down its sides, the entire rock fading into nothingness to reveal a large hole in the tomb. Nodding, Rei carefully reached through the hole and grabbed a small, smooth stone, ignoring the brittle bones that brushed against her glove. She extracted her hand and watched as the stones sealed behind her, the Fire Dust Crystal safe in her grasp.

"I don't understand."

"Reiko knew that someone of her lineage would find this place one day, but she didn't want a weakling to have the planet crystal. She used the last of her power to make sure that only her next incarnation could open this tomb if she was worthy."

"By worthy, you mean with her soul mate."

Rei nodded as she and Minako stepped down from the hill, storing the crystal safely in a pocket of her heavy jacket. "You heard what she said at the end. She wanted to make sure that she did not retrieve the crystal until she could use it properly. Separated from our soul mates, how could we ever attain the high level of power that our ancestors knew? I find it a bit arrogant that she would only let herself retrieve the crystal, though."

"I find it expected," Haruka replied, smirking at the Martian. "I wouldn't want anyone but me to find my crystal, either. And Ares did say you were his strongest Avatar; I would think that Reiko was probably the last strong Sailor Mars. You have already reached her level without the full power of your crystal; I can't imagine what you will be able to do when you figure out how to activate it."

"You guys are the strongest senshi of all time." Serenity smiled as her warriors turned to her, accepting her praise and hoping that she was right. They would have to surpass their ancestors in order to stop the end of the Silver Millennium. "I can't wait to be Queen and have all of you in my court. It's going to be a wonderful time of peace."

"Yes, it will," Michiru replied. She pointed at the handful of snow Serenity was playing with, teal eyes curious. "What is that?"

"A snowball! You pack it together like this, then you throw it at someone. Endymion told me about having snowball fights when he was younger."

"How is that fun?"

Makoto's response came in the form of a snowball to her face, shocking not only the thunder senshi but all of her companions as well. Everyone stood frozen for a minute, glancing between the High Princess and the Jovian as they tried to decide what to do. Rei broke the tableau by reaching for her own clump of fluffy snow, squeezing it a bit before chucking it at Serenity. The blonde squealed in shock and sent a retaliatory missile back, running away before her fire senshi could get a bead on her. Grinning, Haruka threw a snowball at Rei, declaring her side in the little war, Michiru joining her as the other three senshi joined Rei. All thoughts of prophecies and past lives vanished as white missiles flew across the field and the senshi practiced the princess's new game.

* * *

Beryl smiled at Tranquility, bowing to her god. She still insisted on wearing her dark burgundy gown, refusing the traditional Cupid bow and wings, but power sparkled in her dark eyes, almost hiding her insanity. "I know a way."

"Good. From what I read of the prophecies Se wrote ten thousand years ago, this is the only option we have."

"Don't worry, my Lord. Serenity will return."

* * *


	20. Jupiter Oak Evolution

**Chapter 20: Jupiter Oak Evolution**

* * *

_February 17, 8983_

* * *

Ken'nin had not expected to see his sister again for months, and the woman he found standing in the courtyard of Io Castle was not the same carefree young woman he had watched leave with Ami. Makoto's emerald eyes were hard and full of a strange sorrow he couldn't understand, but she wore her green hair loose around her shoulders and had chosen a dress instead of her traditional armor. By her side, Ami was also somber, the knowledge in her sapphire eyes almost frightening the prince. He could tell by their proximity that his sister had pursued a relationship with the Mercurian despite the laws that should keep them separate, but they were both relaxed and calm, so perhaps his fears were unfounded. Saiki and Eiki joined him moments later as Ken'nin glanced at the rest of the visitors, assuming them to be Makoto's fellow senshi.

The Martian he recognized without hesitation; as a fellow warrior he had watched Rei's epic battle with her mother for the henshin stick only days after the incident, and her bright crimson hair would give her away on any world. Her amethyst eyes were dark, serious, and worried, as though she knew something about the future that frightened her. Beside Rei, her golden hair gleaming in the sun, the princess of Venus watched the princes approach with emotionless blue eyes, her stance that of a leader who worried about nothing. Beside her, almost identical to her in every way except for hair style, the High Princess of the Moon had an innocent, carefree light in her eyes despite the dark despair that gripped her senshi. A slender, beautiful woman with wavy aqua hair stood behind the young Lunarian, sapphire-tinted teal eyes focused on the small mirror in her hand. From the symbol on the back of the mirror, she was clearly Sailor Neptune, but Ken'nin had not heard that Shousha had passed her henshin stick to her daughter. Beside her, emerald eyes narrowed as he stared at the mirror in Michiru's hand, a tall blonde completed the group, his stance at ease but the sword on his hip indicating that he was ready to fight at a moment's notice. He raised his head as Eiki joined his brothers, and Ken'nin felt himself stiffen in shock.

He _knew_ that green-eyed Uranian. His mind flew back to the Ganymede Invitational Tournament, three years after Makoto won by pretending to be him and his mother had forced the organizers to chang the rules to allow women to compete. He had accepted a judge's seat that year, and he had watched in breathless awe as Rinae, High Duchess of Callisto, battled another woman, the tall Uranian princess, and Haruka had fought more fiercely than Ken'nin had expected from a non-Jovian. Her father hadn't bothered to come as she received the greatest warrior accolade Jupiter could bestow, but she had been tall and proud as she stood alone and grinned at Ken'nin as he slipped the medal over her neck. Her suit had been finely tailored but definitely masculine, and her eyes had been so intense . . . like looking into the depths of a furious storm cloud filled with emerald light. He would never forget those eyes for as long as he lived, and as the blonde's gaze met his curiously, Ken'nin _knew_ that the tall Uranian had to be Princess Haruka.

Haruka chuckled from across the courtyard, stepping away from the group of senshi to face the three princes. Makoto and Rei looked up as she passed them, her good mood lifting their grim spirits, even Minako relaxing as the Uranian walked forward. "I never thought I'd see you again, Prince Ken'nin of Jupiter."

"I can honestly say you are the last person I thought I'd see here, on Io, with my sister and the other senshi."

"What can I say? This is where I belong." She glanced over Ken'nin's shoulder at his younger brothers, raising one eyebrow in a silent query.

"Mother and Father send their regrets. They are in the middle of a review of the troops before their trip to Titan and will not be able to meet you until the evening meal. They sent me to see to it that you are supplied for your trek through the rainforests of Metis." He pulled his brothers forward into the group of senshi, hugging his sister briefly before facing the blonde. "Welcome to Jupiter, Princess Haruka."

Michiru glanced up at her wife, the only princess not surprised that Ken'nin recognized the blonde. "So this is one of those handful of lucky people who have met you?"

"He judged the Ganymede Invitational the year I won," Haruka replied, hands in her pockets. "I'm going by Rukaze, son of the Fourth War Queen Ono Hikari."

"Who are you hiding from?"

"Everyone," Haruka shrugged, glancing at the two surprised men standing behind Ken'nin. "Your younger brothers?"

"Yeah. Saiki and Eiki. They won't tell anyone your secret." He waved a hand at the servants standing near the doors to the palace, watching as they collected the princess's baggage and carried it inside. "We assigned you guys one of the towers for the night. I wasn't sure if you would stay more than one day since the meeting on Titan is only three days away and you might want to sleep here since Queen Yumemi is not known for her hospitality." He glanced at his sister for an answer, but it was Minako who made the decision for her senshi and their Moon Princess.

"It's probably a good idea, actually. When are your parents leaving for Titan?"

"Tomorrow night, I believe. The royal ship will only take a few hours to complete the trip, and Mother doesn't want to spend the night on Saturn. I was thinking that maybe we could go with you to Metis and talk."

"About what?" Makoto's voice was sharp, demanding, and Ken'nin accepted that she would be suspicious of his intentions.

The Jovian embraced his sister and smiled, his green eyes warm. "I'm not going to tell you not to be with Ami. I can see that she grounds you and makes you happy."

"I'm going to marry her."

Saiki let out a noise that registered somewhere between a squeal and a grunt, shock evident in his ice green eyes. "What? Mako . . . that's not legal."

"It will be when I'm queen." She stood taller, slipping her hand into the comfort of Ami's grasp, letting the genius give her strength. "You guys know me and you know . . . you know the kind of partner I have been looking for my whole life. I've always wanted someone to protect, someone who needs me, but I never knew how much I needed . . . I don't know how to say this." She glanced at Ami, running her fingers through her short blue locks before continuing. "I need someone to protect me from myself, and that's her. I love her, Ken, more than I thought I could ever love anyone. Mother and Father might not ever understand, but I hoped that the three of you would."

Eiki stepped forward, embracing his sister and Ami in silence, never one for words when actions would suffice. Ken'nin nodded and Saiki reached out to take Makoto's hand, pale eyes boring into his older sister. "Ken told us about your feelings for Ami after we left the ship. He said that she was the kind of person you could fall in love with, but he worried about the consequences if you did. I've never seen you more centered in your life, sister, but you aren't an impulsive person. Have you thought about the future, about the heir you must one day have?"

Makoto nodded, smiling at her younger brother. "Ami and I are going to take consorts who will impregnate us through artificial insemination. Her little brother already offered to be mine whenever we are ready, and I was hoping that one of you would be hers."

"Would it prevent us from marrying and having our own families?"

"No, Ken; it's just a title. The consort fathers a child in place of the queen's mate when the mate is infertile or otherwise incapable of doing so, but it's not marriage."

"I would do it," Eiki whispered, the quietest royal child smiling at his sister. His hair was only a few shades darker than Makoto's wavy locks, and his eyes were almost the same intense emerald green as hers. "I'm the most like you, in any case. If being with Ami makes you happy, then I will help you in any way I can."

"Thank you," Makoto whispered, pulling Eiki into a warm hug.

Haruka tapped the Jovian princess on the shoulder, interrupting the family reunion. "Hey, Thunder; if your mother isn't here, how are you going to get your keystone?"

"You mean this thing?" Ken'nin reached into the pocket of his jacket and pulled out a golden chain attached to a small, round emerald. "Mother told me that she forgot to hand it to you when you received your henshin stick but that it truly belongs to Sailor Jupiter." Makoto took it with a grateful smile, slipping the chain over her neck. "What's it for? Why do you need it so badly?"

"Because we're going hunting, and this stone can find what we're looking for."

Ken'nin shrugged when his sister offered no further explanation. "Well, if you're heading to Metis, you definitely need Jovian armor. Your senshi uniforms are way too bright and revealing for that rainforest. Makoto has her own set, I know, and I'm sure Saiki can find armor for the rest of you women. Haruka, however . . . I suppose you want male armor." The blonde nodded. "Well, you're taller than Mako, so you'd probably fit in a set of my armor just fine. If you want to come with me, Makoto can take the rest of you to her ladies-in-waiting and have you dressed."

* * *

"Metis isn't like the rest of our moons." Makoto tightened the straps of her bracers and slipped a small knife into the sheath on the outside of each one as the group of senshi and princes waited next to the shuttle pad. "For one thing, it's the closest moon to Jupiter, and it's tidally locked to the gas giant. It's not the smallest of our moons, but without the massive gravity and magnetic field generators we installed millennia ago, our scientists suspect that it would be a tiny, lifeless, asymmetrical lump of rock in danger of constant bombardment by other moons and rogue solar system objects, existing only to add debris to the slender rings of Jupiter. We put a lot of effort into keeping the moon alive and safe because it was the place chosen for the signing of the peace contract that ended the Wars of Unification. There is a small town at the landing and treaty site, but most of the world is a wildlife sanctuary protected by the same artificially lit domes used on all of our main moons. On Jupiter, _wildlife sanctuary_ really means that everything on that moon is either poisonous or deadly. The same gravimetric and magnetic technology that keeps Metis habitable prevents transportation onto the surface, blocking even our own senshi power. Once we land, we will have to trek through the forest to the Tosha Plains, and then walk back. There are no land vehicles and we will not be able to teleport if we get into some sort of danger."

"Sounds like fun," Haruka replied dryly, watching as a small shuttle landed on the pad next to them. "Are all of your moons so nice?"

Makoto grinned as she led the group onto the shuttle, helping Serenity up the steps as her brothers brought up the rear. All of them wore the traditional green and rust brown armor of her people, dark brown half-cloaks on every back, her brothers having insisted on carrying all of the supplies. They boarded the shuttle quickly, taking their seats for the five-minute hop around the gas giant to the tiny rainforest moon.

* * *

"What's the keystone for?"

"When we get to the Tosha Plains, I can use it to search for the Thunder Cry Crystal. That's the planet crystal of Jupiter, the stone that used to give Sailor Jupiter the power to transform."

"And you think you can find it as easily as that?" Makoto waved her hand at Ami, the Mercurian pulling a small crystal from her pouch, Rei and Minako mirroring her action. Ken'nin nodded in acceptance, using his staff to push another set of hanging vines out of the way as the group continued forward. "Are you all looking for your crystal?"

"Yes. We found a list of the locations where they were hidden three thousand years ago, and it seems like the right time to collect them again."

"They'll give you the full power of the planets, don't they? Why do you need that?"

Minako avoided Ken'nin's gaze, her senshi equally silent as they carefully jumped across a small stream. "Does it have something to do with the meeting on Titan?" Eiki's words were soft, but demanding, and Minako sighed.

"Yes."

"Are you going to tell us what it is?"

"We don't know yet, not really," Minako replied, brushing her hair away from her face. "We think that something is trying to make Sailor Saturn rise, but we won't know for sure until after the meeting on Titan."

"You don't know what having the full power of the crystal means, do you?"

"We know that our ancestors had it and were more powerful. Sailor Pluto is the only senshi to still have full access to her planet's power, so maybe she has the answer."

"Having the answer does not mean she will answer the question," Rei pointed out sagely, stopping just behind Makoto at the edge of a tranquil-looking river. The Jovian held her staff out, over the water, her emerald eyes narrowed. Rei summoned her bow and Haruka drew her sword, both sensing that their fellow warrior was searching for danger.

"This is known as the River of Deception. It flows from the mountains along the equator to the sea at the south pole, and it carries so many types of dissolved heavy metals that we stopped trying to analyze the water hundreds of years ago. From what we can tell, the primary one is mercury, which is present in such a high concentration that the water has a silvery sheen to it. That's the main reason everything on this world is toxic; mercury poisoning killed off the original colony here six thousand years ago before we turned it into a nature preserve."

"So . . . don't drink the water?"

Ami leaned down by the edge of the river, sapphire eyes widening as her computer analyzed the liquid before her. "Rei would be correct. I would suggest you avoid touching the water in this particular river, in point of fact. I'm surprised at how low the atmospheric mercury is with the concentration in the water this high."

The Jovian shrugged, her brothers already fanning out along the banks to search for a way to cross the silvery water. "The life here is adept at utilizing mercury compounds, but we have sensors in the dome to detect dangerously high levels of a number of toxins, including mercury. The dome over the city scrubs the metals out of the air and water, making it safe to live there, but if we scrubbed the air here, all of this plants and animals would likely die."

"Makoto! I found a place we can cross."

The Jovian nodded at her brother's call, leading the senshi and their princess up a small slope to a rock jutting over the river's silvery surface. A cluster of huge trees towered overhead, reaching almost to the other bank, and dozens of thick, strong vines hung down from the trees' canopies. Ken'nin and Eiki pulled a few of the vines to test their strength, seemingly satisfied with the result. Haruka crossed her arms over her chest and glared at the three princes. "You've got to be kidding."

Ken'nin shrugged. "Do you have a better idea? These vines are strong and long enough to get us to the other bank without issue." He wrapped the vine around his upper arm, grabbing lower with his left hand, judging the distance across the river as he jumped. He swung across the silvery surface confidently, reaching out to grab one of the vines on the other side of the river and coming to a stop in the spongy green grass. "It seems safe enough. You should all have your weapons ready just in case."

Rei raised her bow and readied a flaming arrow, staring at the silver water, amethyst eyes intense. Minako summoned her chain as Haruka glanced at Serenity, touching her wife's hand in a question. Michiru smiled and nodded; she would be fine to cross on her own but someone had to carry their princess, and Haruka was the likely choice. Eiki crossed the river next, Makoto and Saiki watching their brothers as the Jovians listened for any danger in the forest. "Okay, who's going next?"

"We are," Haruka replied, pulling Serenity forward with her. "I'm taking the princess across. Do we have a way to secure her to my back?"

Makoto pulled on one of the smaller vines, letting Haruka cut it down before turning to Serenity. "Ok, jump up on her back."

Haruka crouched down and waited for Makoto to help Serenity climb up, settling the small blonde and standing so the Jovians could secure her with the vine in their hands. Serenity rested her chin on Haruka's shoulder, sighing. "Is this really necessary? I can swing across just like the rest of you."

"It's not about whether you can," Haruka replied, her voice a soft purr, "but we're your protectors and we aren't going to risk anything going wrong."

Makoto finishing slipping the straps between Haruka's legs, blushing the entire time, Saiki pulling the rope over the Uranian's shoulders. He crossed the ends of the vine across the blonde's flattened chest, ice green eyes narrowed in contemplation as he finished tying the knots. "Do you even have breasts?"

Haruka grunted as Michiru giggled, the Neptunian's reaction answering the prince's question. Serenity laughed over Haruka's shoulder, nudging the blonde with her knee in a silent request to answer Saiki. "Yes, I have breasts," Haruka replied, her gruff tone amused. "My planet is harsh and unforgiving, so we don't exactly grow large and ungainly. Your Jovian women have cornered the market on that size." She waved one hand at Makoto, who easily had the largest bosom in the group, watching as the other warrior blushed.

Haruka reached up for the nearest strong vine, tugging on it experimentally and testing her new center of gravity at the same time. Wrapping the vine around one wrist as she had seen Ken'nin do, the Uranian pushed off of the small rocky outcropping, swinging across the silver river without incident. Ken'nin and Eiki caught Haruka and helped her land, walking a few paces away from the river's edge and helping Serenity down. Saiki followed them moments later, catching Ami as she landed and joined Haruka guarding the princess. The Mercurian and Uranian stared across the river in silence as Makoto helped Michiru grip the heavy vine and pushed her across the water. Haruka stepped forward and caught her siren, smiling in relief to have her wife beside her again. She had felt a twinge of danger while Michiru was swinging across the water, almost as if something sinister was watching them, but Haruka was willing to believe that she had just been worried about having her lover out of arm's reach.

Makoto joined the group on the lower side of the river, standing with Ami and Serenity while her three brothers turned to guard them against threats from the forest. On the other side of the river, Minako whispered something to Rei as she uncoiled her chain, the Martian's arrow still pointed at the peaceful river. Rei nodded once, obediently, as Minako swung her chain into the branches overhead, the magical talisman securing itself so its senshi could safely cross the water. As soon as Minako landed, Haruka joined her, something in the blonde's eyes worrying the Uranian. "What?"

"She has a bad feeling about the river," Minako replied, swinging the end of her chain back to her lover. Her blue eyes watched as Rei caught the chain, letting her bow vanish as she wrapped the glowing metal around her wrist and prepared to leap. Michiru joined Haruka at the river bank while Minako joined Ami and Makoto beside Serenity. The senshi stared across the placid river in silence as the Martian pushed off, swinging across as easily as the others had, her booted feet reaching for the safety of the river bank.

They had all been expecting something to happen, everyone on edge as they pondered the dangers of the silent forest, but in the instant of the attack no one was able to respond. Rei screamed as a huge reptilian creature leaped out of the water, its jaws engulfing her leg as its serrated teeth tore through her armor and into her skin. Her warrior instincts took over in that instant of agony, fire covering her slender form as she incinerated the creature, Minako's chain releasing her as flames covered the surface of the river. Haruka and Makoto were by her side in an instant, catching the flame senshi as her power faded, the creature a pile of ash on the river bank as the silver surface calmed once more.

Haruka pulled the unconscious Martian away from the water, eyeing the jagged slices in her thigh as Minako's talisman landed beside them in a pile, its senshi still holding back. The leader of the Outer Senshi looked up at the leader of the Inner Senshi, cringing from the pain in Minako's eyes. She stood alone beside Serenity, one arm held in front of the High Princess to keep her from running forward toward the river that had spawned the monster, tears in her own eyes as she watched her lover fall. Haruka stood, letting Makoto and Ami tend Rei while she and Michiru walked over to Minako.

"Go on," Haruka whispered.

"Someone has to protect the princess."

"I know. We will. Go to her." Minako smiled at the taller woman gratefully, joining the other Inner Senshi as Haruka pulled the crying princess into her arms. "She's going to be alright; don't worry."

"It tried to eat her," Serenity whispered, tears streaming from her eyes. Michiru placed a comforting hand on the blonde's back, her eyes meeting Haruka's over the girl's head. No one else had realized the choice Minako made in the instant of the attack, but they had seen the indecision in her eyes. She had wanted to run to her lover, help the Martian, but that would have left the princess unprotected, and a senshi's first duty was to Serenity. Minako had chosen her princess over her soul mate, a choice that none of them had ever wanted to face.

"If it is a choice between you and her," Haruka whispered, emerald eyes stormy; "I will always choose her."

"I know," Michiru whispered, teal eyes understanding. "I would, as well."

"But if the price of my choice was your life, I would follow you into death."

"I know." Michiru linked her fingers with Haruka's, their free hands still comforting their princess. "The Sailor Pluto who ordered the creation of the keystones must have feared this. She thought we would sacrifice our princess for each other."

"She should have known better," Haruka replied, resting her chin on Serenity's head. The two senshi turned to the river, hoping that Rei would be alright.

Ami shook her head as she examined the wounds, Minako's fear and desperation pulsing off her in waves. Dozens of small, jagged wounds covered the Martian's leg almost to her hip, her leather armor shredded and useless. The creature had only managed to hold on for a second, and Rei hadn't made the mistake of trying to pull away, so the wounds were not nearly as bad as they could have been. Even with senshi healing, she would not be able to walk on that leg for at least a day. "These bites are deep and certainly infected. A predator like that must have all sorts of bacteria in its saliva. I can give her something for the pain and I can treat the metal poisoning—"

"Metal poisoning?" Blue eyes wild, Minako pulled Rei into her lap, running her fingers through the unconscious woman's red hair.

Makoto grabbed Minako's hand, emerald eyes dark. "Minako, please control your emotions. Ami can't think with you so wound up. It was only a _Lortest Basiil_ , and a small one at that. She passed out from using so much of her power so fast, not from anything it did."

"But Ami said metal poisoning . . . why would a creature from a river filled with mercury bother poisoning its victims with heavy metals?"

Ami finished cleaning the wounds and bandaged them, tapping a command into her computer as she replicated something to neutralize the metals contaminating Rei's blood. Some of the larger gashes required stitches, but the clear sutures she used would be absorbed by the Martian's body when she finished healing. "They don't, but everything here is saturated with mercury compounds and other ionized metals. Her blood toxicity level is ridiculously high just from the water that entered the wounds. She's going to be fine, Minako; please calm down."

The blonde finally gained control of her fear as Ami injected a pale liquid into Rei's arm, leaning over the Mercurian's shoulder and watching as her lover's vitals seemed to return to normal. Her conversation with Rei months ago about her power as Sailor Venus returned to her, and she knew that she had to learn to control her own emotional outbursts for the sake of her team. "How long will she sleep?"

"She used a lot of power. I'm not an expert on senshi strength just yet, but I think that she could be out for a while. Her reaction was instinctual and therefore overkill, so burned herself out. Someone is going to have to carry her the rest of the way."

"I'll do it," Haruka offered, leading Serenity closer once it was clear that the danger had passed. "I'm the only one strong enough who isn't a Jovian, and we need them to be free to navigate the forest."

Minako reluctantly released Rei as Makoto lifted the limp Martian, positioning her on Haruka's back and using a few nearby vines to secure her in place. "You'll be careful?"

"Of course I will," Haruka replied, "you just worry about protecting Serenity."

Minako nodded, taking the High Princess's hand as Makoto prepared to move forward again, the three Jovian princes behind Haruka while Michiru and Ami flanked the Uranian. Pulling Serenity forward, Minako fell into step behind Makoto, hoping that the rest of their trek through the forests of Metis would be uneventful.

* * *

Makoto sighed in relief as she stepped out from under the shade of the trees onto an empty, blue-grassed plain, the artificial sun nearly set on the other side. "Finally."

"Tosha Plains?"

Makoto nodded at her leader, letting her staff vanish as she pulled the keystone free and held it up. A tiny green light in the center of the stone began to pulse, indicating that they were finally reaching their destination. "Everyone, drink something quickly; we can't move slowly across these plains. From the level of light in this stone, my planet crystal is at least two hours' walk away and we can't be exposed on the plains for that long."

The senshi obeyed her, Ami grabbing her wrist in confusion. "What do you mean, Mako? There's nothing out there."

"Nothing you can see," Eiki retorted, stowing his weapons and making sure that each one was safely strapped to his armor. His brothers echoed his actions, clearly preparing for something while everyone took a moment to quench their thirst. "The Tosha plains are named for the single predator that lives here, giant bird-like creatures called _Tosha Ris_ that prey on anything that moves through the grass. They hunt by sensing the electrical pulses of their prey, and the bigger they are, the tastier they look. We're not the largest thing out here, but we're going to look yummy. The best way to cross is to run, get into the hills in the center before the sun sets completely. They hunt at night and during the morning, but they sleep during the hottest part of the day so we are safe for another hour. After that, we might all end up like Rei."

"Everyone transform," Haruka ordered, glancing at Minako. "I can use my power to help us run faster, but I can't carry Rei while I do it."

"As Sailor Venus, I'll be strong enough." The blonde transformed, letting Makoto shift the still-sleeping Martian onto her back. She took a moment to become accustomed to the redhead's weight, nodding as the rest of the senshi also transformed. "Neptune, can you carry Serenity? With Mars unconscious, Jupiter has the best offensive power if those birds find us, so I need her free to act."

"Of course," the older woman replied, smiling as she urged the young princess onto her back. The three princes moved into the center of the group with Neptune and Venus, Jupiter in the lead with Mercury behind her and Uranus taking the rear position at Neptune's heels. Closing her eyes, the blonde summoned her wind, carefully wrapping it around herself and her companions. Opening her eyes, she nodded at Jupiter, and the group took off.

She had never run so fast in her life. The sword on her hip pulsed in joy at the raw power flowing through her lean form, her emerald eyes glowing. She loved running, she loved speed, but she could already feel the drain of carrying so many people along with her. They had only been running for twenty or so minutes, but Haruka was tiring.

Serenity glanced back over her shoulder, reaching out with one hand and touching Uranus's shoulder. Haruka gasped as power filled her, a strange, pure power that she could neither identify nor understand. Serenity just smiled, the golden moon on her forehead glowing, as she offered the power of her birthright to her senshi. Nodding in acceptance, Uranus tightened her web of wind around the group and pushed, moving them even faster. Less than a handful of minutes later she sensed it, danger at the limits of her perception as the sun settled on the edge of the horizon. "Jupiter!"

"I know! I sense them, too. They're coming."

"Your power is electricity. Can you mask us?"

Jupiter raised her hands to the sky, concentrating as she summoned lightning to her fingertips. Throwing her hands out to the sides, she blanketed the area with electricity, trusting Uranus's wind to protect the group while she tried to confuse the birds' senses. They were quickly nearing the safety of the hills, but the two warriors could still sense the approach of the predators, and both of them were tiring. Uranus pulled with all of her strength, forcing the group to come to an abrupt stop as she reached out and grabbed Jupiter's arm. Neptune knelt beside the pair of them, letting Serenity slide to the ground. "I don't think they're fooled by the electricity," Jupiter admitted, her eyes sparking with the effects of her power.

"We need to spread it further, make it cover more of the plains." Uranus grabbed the Moon Princess's hand, emerald eyes meeting light blue. "Can you do that again? The thing with your power?" Serenity nodded slowly, the moon appearing on her forehead again. "Give some to Jupiter, too." The green-haired senshi took the princess's free hand, gasping as the same pure, brilliant power filled her frame, the pale blue-green lightning overhead spreading across the plains. Uranus's wind followed, scattering the electricity into a fine net, masking the group as the flock of predatory birds moved closer. The senshi stared at the sky, motionless, as a dozen huge shadows passed overhead, the birds ignoring them in favor of other prey deeper in the plains. As soon as the foreboding sense of danger passed, Uranus and Jupiter released their power, the group relaxing as they stood to finish their trek toward the hills.

"What was that?"

"Hmm?"

Jupiter waved a hand at the Moon Princess, confusion in her emerald eyes. "What was that power? It was strong but not distinct from my own . . . it was like it magnified my own powers beyond what I would normally be capable of."

Mercury, glancing at her computer as she walked beside Serenity, shrugged at her lover's explanation. "That seems to be what happened. Serenity catalyzed your own strength, letting you pull on your planets' life forces in ways that you can't on your own. I've never heard of a princess having senshi-like powers before, though."

"I have," Venus murmured, glancing at the princess. "She has, too."

"Just stories," Serenity countered, running her fingers nervously through her hair. "I have heard that sometimes the line of Serenity can produce senshi, but it's very rare. The princess has to have a balanced power in addition to the light of the ginzuishou, and she never has the power to fight, only heal. But what I feel . . . it's not healing."

"No, it's something more. You're not a senshi, either. And what does that mean, a balanced power? The strength of the Serenity Line comes from light alone."

"In the beginning of the Silver Millennium, there were three gods," Serenity replied, glancing at the ground to avoid the rocks that had begun to appear around them as they climbed into the hills. Jupiter's keystone had begun to glow brightly as they entered the hilly part of the Tosha Plains, indicating that they were nearing the end of their trek. "Serenity was the goddess of purity and healing, Tranquility was the god of power and light, and the third one, the unnamed daughter of Hades, was the goddess of darkness and strength. Her name might be lost, but her power is still alive in my lineage. I think the balance means that I have some of her dark power inside me."

"Why would that make you stronger?"

"You can't have light without the darkness," Uranus replied, reaching back to help Neptune climb over a rocky outcropping. "Having the darkness would magnify her light, make her stronger. That could be the catalyst."

"I'm not the first. I've found stories in the Royal Archives of a ninth senshi, Sailor Moon. There have been two in recorded history, and I think I might be the third."

"That's why you wanted to come with us," Uranus realized. "You wanted to see if you could force your powers to manifest."

"It's working. I feel different, stronger. If I can figure out how to transform . . ."

"Why do you want to fight so badly? We're your warriors, here to protect you so that you don't have to face the darkness."

"Because it's going to be too strong, Jupiter. It's going to consume my entire kingdom and I don't think we can defeat it without the cleansing power Sailor Moon is rumored to have. I don't want to fight, but I think I have to."

Jupiter led the group in silence for a few minutes, the keystone glowing as they climbed the last of the hills, stopping dead at the sight that met her. At the base of the verdant hills, protected from the fierce storms that ravaged the open Tosha Plains, a copse of golden trees surrounded a stone temple, blue vines heavy with red flowers covering the walls. "I think this is the place."

"Why is there a building here? No one has ever lived on Metis beyond the city."

"I don't know, Ken, but my planet crystal must be inside." She summoned her staff once more, ready to clear the foliage so the group could enter the building, lightning sparking from the end of her talisman providing the only illumination for the group as the artificial sun finally set. "Shall we?"


	21. Supreme Thunder

**Chapter 21: Supreme Thunder**

* * *

_February 17, 8983 – February 20, 8983_

* * *

Jupiter led the group into the temple, watching as the vines and plants moved back at her request. The stonework was old, but not as ancient as she had suspected, and the building was equipped with old but functioning light strips around the pillars. Touching a control near the door, the Jovian activated the illumination system, letting her staff vanish as warm yellow light filled the single chamber. "I don't think this is a temple."

"What makes you say that?"

Jupiter pointed to the single raised table in the center of the room, the lightning symbols carved into the stone matching the ones on the walls and pillars. "That is Zeus's symbol, but a typical temple to Zeus would include the main chamber for supplicants with a large statue of the god in the center in addition to a room for the acolytes to pray, ax expansive dining chamber, the head priest's quarters, and chambers for the Seers. This building has just the one room."

"It's a mausoleum."

Jupiter looked at Uranus curiously, emerald eyes meeting emerald across the room. "A tomb? In the middle of nowhere?"

"Those aren't just Zeus's marks," the blonde replied. "That's Hermes's mark, there, beside it. Two people are buried here."

"Oh." Jupiter's eyes widened as she realized the only people who could be buried in a Jovian nature preserve in the middle of nowhere. "Jupiter and Mercury. The ones from . . . from back then."

Uranus nodded and turned to Venus, carefully detaching Rei from her blonde lover's back and setting her on the floor, leaning her against the raised platform. "We need her power to see back to the day they died, like she did on Mars. Then you will know where your planet crystal was hidden."

"How will you wake her up? She's still weak."

"I was thinking our princess might have an idea on that."

Serenity took a step back as all eyes turned toward her, raising her hands defensively. "Haruka, I don't know if my power will work. I've only been able to use it to catalyze someone else's abilities; I don't know how to heal."

Uranus shrugged and pointed at Venus. "Catalyze her power, then. She's the senshi of love, isn't she? Who better to pull her soul mate back to consciousness?"

Serenity walked forward and knelt beside Rei, taking Venus's hand in hers and placing her free hand on Rei's shoulder. Venus wrapped her arm around her mate, resting her forehead on Rei's. "Come back to me," she whispered as her orange-gold power cloaked her, amplified by the pale gold of Serenity's power. Tilting her head, she kissed the redhead, pouring all of her love and power into that simple action. Moments later, she felt the woman beneath her start to respond, Rei's arms slowly rising to encircle the blonde's waist. Serenity and Venus let their powers fade as the Martian's amethyst eyes opened and she smiled up at her lover.

"That was some kiss." Her voice was hoarse and still tinged with pain, but her eyes were clear as she glanced around the circle. "What happened?"

"Do you remember the attack? The reptile thing?"

" _Lortest Basiil_ ," Mercury supplied helpfully, unable to resist the urge to correct Venus's vague phrasing.

"I remember. I sensed danger when Michiru crossed the water, and that must have been it. The thing . . . tried to swallow my leg?" Rei glanced down, noting the bandages covering her thigh and calf, finally registering the dull, throbbing pain from her wounds. "I see. I remember reacting . . . summoning my fire, then nothing."

"You burned yourself out. Instinctive reactions might save your life, but when senshi powers are involved, they are inevitably overkill. You've been asleep ever since."

Rei nodded at Mercury's explanation, glancing up at the stone ceiling overhead. "How long was I out?"

"It's nightfall," Jupiter replied. "Haruka and Minako carried you here through the forest and across the plains. I think my planet crystal is here somewhere, but it seems like my previous incarnation decided to bury herself in a tomb similar to the one we found on Deimos. We need you to see if you can look back for me like you did for yourself."

"It's not pleasant, watching your own death," Rei warned, letting the Jovian princes help her to her feet as she summoned her henshin stick. With a flash of fire-red light, she transformed into Sailor Mars, sighing in relief as her senshi healing finally kicked in, though she still couldn't put weight on her right leg without experiencing searing pain. She carefully climbed onto the stone platform and settled into a comfortable sitting position, closing her amethyst eyes. "Michiru, can you show them again?"

"Of course." Mars closed her eyes and summoned her power, reaching for the soul of the senshi buried beneath her while Neptune summoned her mirror and the group gathered around her.

_A tall woman with short, dark green hair highlighted in ice blue stood in the center of the small temple, glaring at a statue of Zeus filling the area before her. She held a glowing crystal in her hand, and tears filled her greenish hazel eyes. "Zeus! You will come when I summon you!"_

" _You shouldn't antagonize the King of the Gods," a gentle voice chided from her side. A much smaller woman grabbed her arm, urging patience with both her actions and her ice blue eyes. Her long blue hair curled down her back, so dark that it appeared black in the dim light. "He won't come if you yell, Mariya."_

" _He certainly won't come if I don't, Chieko; he never has." Mariya summoned a ball of lightning to her hand and threw it at the statue, shattering it into thousands of tiny pieces, the tall Jovian raising one arm to protect her partner from any flying rubble. Mariya smirked at the destruction she had caused, glancing at her partner. "Now he'll come."_

_A flash of lightning heralded the arrival of the god, his blue eyes filled with sadness despite the destruction of one of his statues. He shook his head as he surveyed the damage, his curly golden hair bouncing on his shoulders at the movement. "Not that anyone comes here anymore to worship at my temple, but did you have to destroy that statue? It was a pretty decent one."_

" _Don't insult me by talking about your precious statue, Zeus! You know why I called you. Pluto told us that you gods are locking away the power of our crystals. Do you think the world can survive without strong senshi?"_

" _Se says that the world cannot survive if you continue to grow stronger from this point. She says that this is necessary. We were trying to figure out how to accomplish this goal, but none of the patron gods could think of anything. Ares and Aphrodite have gone to Mars to visit their senshi and see if they have any ideas."_

" _They do," Mariya assured her god, glancing away in a vain attempt to keep from crying again. "Reiko knows. She and Minami are going to . . ." She couldn't say it; she barely wanted to think about it. The warrior glanced back up at the god, silently begging him to understand what her fellow senshi were planning without the need for words. Then she fell to her knees, her free hand clutching at her heart as pain stabbed through her, burning along the bond that she shared with her fellow senshi. "She's done it."_

_Chieko gasped, clenching her fists as pain filled her ice-blue eyes. "Reiko is dead. Minami will follow momentarily."_

_Zeus stepped forward to help his Avatar, shaking his head in denial as Aphrodite's scream tore through the gods, close on the heels of Ares's desperate fury. The senshi of Mars and Venus were both dead, having taken their own lives after surviving so much war in the Antares system. "Why?"_

" _Because it's the only way to seal the powers of the planets," Chieko whispered, staring into the sapphire depths of her own crystal. "My crystal has to be buried on Mercury, but I plan to die here. Could you summon Hermes for me?"_

_Zeus barely formed the thought and his son appeared by his side, bright blue eyes sad as he stared at his senshi. Hermes stepped forward, silently accepting the Mercury Aqua Song Crystal from his senshi, already knowing her plans after sensing his half-brother's rage. "Chieko . . . you're going to leave me?"_

" _Hermes . . . you will have my daughter to keep you company soon. But when Sailor Pluto ordered our powers sealed, she signed our death warrants. I'm sure she knew what her orders would mean." She smiled and touched Hermes's cheek, smiling at her patron god kindly. "It won't be as messy as Minami and Reiko. I'm no warrior and I don't really need a warrior's death." She closed her eyes as Mariya stood and kissed her cheek, bidding her wife farewell as the Mercurian collapsed. She had used her powers to stop the blood flowing through her veins, granting herself a painless death._

_Mariya smiled as she knelt on the ground, Chieko's body safe in her arms as Hermes's first tear solidified into a tiny sapphire stone. "So it's your sorrow that will seal our powers," the Jovian whispered, power dancing around her strong form as she prepared to end her own life. "Reiko guessed that your tears would be required."_

" _Mariya . . . you don't have to die."_

" _Chieko knew that you would try to convince me to live, Zeus," the hazel-eyed woman whispered, running her fingers through her wife's hair. "She knows that I have a weak heart despite being a warrior of Jupiter and I might have lost my nerve and she couldn't allow that. She died first because she knows that I can't live without her. So yes, I do have to die." She smiled sadly as her lightning enveloped her form, interrupting the electrical impulses in her body and stopping her heart. She fell to the ground, her limbs tangled with Chieko's, as the King of the Gods leaned down and touched her face lovingly. His tear dropped to the stone floor beside the two bodies, solidifying into a dark green keystone._

_Zeus carefully took the quiescent planet crystal from his senshi's hand, touching her body and closing his eyes. He whispered something and watched as the bodies of the two senshi disappeared in a shower of light. Outside the temple, golden trees sprouted from the ground, growing quickly until their branches hung over the stone roof. Wound among them and around the temple, blue vines appeared, blanketing the stone walls in moments. "You transformed them into plants?"_

" _I transformed them into guardians," Zeus replied, taking the keystone as he placed the planet crystal in the center of the rubble from his statue. "Their souls will be reborn one day, and these trees and vines will recognize Mariya and Chieko in their next life. Only they will be able to return here. We might have to obey Se's laws concerning the Silver Millennium, but I can give my Avatar a chance to find her full power once more." He waved his hands and watched as the rubble rose from the floor, the stones piling around the sleeping crystal and forming a low platform. Zeus's symbol appeared along the outer edge of the stone, Hermes silently adding his own mark before vanishing._

Jupiter gasped and fell to her knees, emerald eyes wide at the memory of lightning slicing through her. Mercury clenched her fists but otherwise controlled her reaction, reaching down to help her partner to her feet. "Do you know how to get your crystal, Mako?"

The Jovian slowly nodded, glancing at her brothers over her shoulder. "Do you guys see why I have chosen to be with Ami? She's not just some fling . . . she's my soul mate."

"I always thought that was some fanciful Venusian concept," Ken'nin admitted, "but after seeing that . . . if Queen Mariya was your past incarnation and Chieko was hers, were Reiko and Minami the past lives of Rei and Minako?"

"Yes," Mars confirmed, slipping to the ground and urging the senshi away from the platform. "Those four, along with Nao and Yuuka, were the last of the strong senshi, and we must have the planet crystals so that we have the power to defeat this new threat."

Uranus glanced at her wife, backing toward the door with the rest of the group as Jupiter faced the stone tomb alone. "I know what we're going to find on Uranus."

"Our souls," Michiru confirmed, silently taking the blonde's gloved hand in her own. "I'm not sure I want to see my death."

"If we don't, then our deaths in this life are guaranteed," Uranus replied.

Jupiter raised her arms, crossing them in front of her chest as she summoned her power once more. With a brief Jovian war cry, she released her lightning, the bolts arcing into the stone tomb in front of her and shattering it, even as Mariya had shattered the statue of Zeus so long ago. Most of the rubble flew away from the group, none of the stray pieces of rock hitting anyone, and Jupiter leaned down to pick up the round crystal left behind after Mariya's death. "The Thunder Cry Crystal."

Eiki glanced around the temple as the senshi moved forward to see the stone, the young prince clearing his throat for attention. "Why did they choose this place?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, it takes a day's trek to get here with good weather, and the storms of Metis are legendary throughout the Jupiter system. Why would they choose a place they couldn't teleport into or out of for a temple, let alone a tomb?"

Mercury nodded her head at Eiki's logic, realizing that there had to be something special about the stone building. "This isn't a normal temple to Zeus, as Makoto pointed out. It's just one room, it never hosted priests or acolytes, and it used to have a statue that Zeus not only listened to but instantly noticed the destruction of. Perhaps . . . maybe this was a place she could come to summon him in peace. It could be a focal point."

"If it's a focal point, then there should be enough power flowing into this room to let a senshi teleport out of here and off this planet. We wouldn't have to spend another day on a trek back to the capital." Jupiter smiled at Venus's words, clearly as eager to be off Metis as the non-Jovians were.

"I suppose the only thing we can do is test it," Uranus replied, watching as the three princes moved to stand beside Serenity, the six senshi forming a circle around the other four. "Where shall we go?"

"I'll lead," Jupiter replied, reaching for Mercury's hand on one side and Venus's on the other. Mars grabbed Venus's other hand while Neptune took hers, Uranus reaching for Mercury's hand to complete the circle. "It's night on Io, so we'll aim for the lower gardens south of the palace. No one is there after dark, so no one will see that our friend the _son_ of Ono Hikari is actually the Princess of Uranus." She closed her eyes and summoned her power, reaching for the essence of Metis and her bond with Jupiter. For just a moment, it seemed that the planet would not let them leave, but an explosion of multi-colored light filled the abandoned temple and the group vanished.

* * *

"How was your training session?"

"Illuminating." Makoto sipped her soup as she glanced around the table, wondering why her parents had insisted on a formal dinner while they were in the middle of preparing for the Full Council on Titan, especially when the senshi were all so incredibly tired from their trek through the forests of Metis. She was beginning to wish they had stayed the night and walked back in the morning instead of learning how to teleport through the planetary shield.

Meika grunted in response, accepting that her daughter was not interested in talking about her time in the forest. "Your brothers accompanied you?"

"We were in the forests of Metis, a place even trained Jovian warriors are loathe to visit. My fellow senshi aren't as familiar with forests as my brothers."

"Are you going to be on Titan for the meeting?"

"Of course we will. We're the Sailor Senshi, aren't we?"

"I heard that King Koshu will not be in attendance," Meisha offered casually, brushing his aqua and green hair out of his face.

"Why not?" Michiru asked the question, knowing that her wife needed to know the answer but wouldn't risk drawing attention to herself.

Meisha shrugged, sipping his wine as the servants traded the soup course for the main dish. "He's struggling to control the War Queens. Apparently one of the Lesser War Queens returned home and said that she had seen the Princess and that Haruka did not want Uranus to go to war on her behalf. Koshu denounced the War Queen's words and now they are threatening to depose him. Or behead him. The word is the same in the High Oberonian dialect used for the missive."

Haruka snorted, poking at her food angrily with her fork. "Idiot."

"You would insult your own king so openly?"

Haruka shrugged, realizing that she had said the word out loud. "A Plutonian thought he could rule the wilds of my world without bending to the relentless wind. Now he will be broken by that he sought to crush. In any case, we rarely behead anyone anymore, so I'm sure they only wish to depose him."

"Isn't he your cousin?"

"He married into the Royal Line. That doesn't mean I owe him anything."

Meika watched the blonde Uranian curiously, head tilted as she listened to her speech. "You are very headstrong for a man of your world."

Haruka felt a cold shock of concern fill her form, and she wondered if she was that close to breaking her own cover. She had almost forgotten that Jovians were more likely to have frequent enough dealings with Uranus to understand her people, something she did not have to worry about among the innermost planets. Summoning every ounce of masculine strength she possessed, Haruka glared at the shorter woman. "Perhaps you don't know Uranians as well as you think you do."

Michiru placed a hand on Haruka's arm, sensing her wife's rising anger. "Ruka, why don't we talk about something other than your family?"

Haruka narrowed her emerald eyes at Meika, nodding in satisfaction when the pale-eyed woman looked away. "Fine. Something else."

* * *

"I know who you are."

Haruka stopped in the dark hall and turned to face the Jovian queen, Michiru also pausing at Meika's soft words. Makoto and Ami moved to stand on Haruka's other side, the taller warrior gesturing for Ken'nin to lead the High Princess and the other two senshi to their guest rooms while she dealt with their mother. "I know who I am, too," Haruka replied flippantly.

"You're the missing princess."

The blonde stepped back, unable to control her instinctive reaction as Meika nodded sagely. She had followed the group of senshi into the guest wing, leaving her husband to finish the arrangements for their trip to Saturn. "How?"

"You have your mother's opinion of Koshu."

Haruka stepped forward, her eagerness to learn about her mother overriding her concern about having her cover blown. "She married him; why would she choose a man who could never control the Uranian people if she knew she was going to die?"

Meika stepped forward into the light, smiling at the young princess as she gently touched Haruka's cheek. The blonde, having lacked a mother's kind touch for twenty-one years, leaned into the caress, tears springing to her eyes against her will. "You know, Haruka, Kazeko was my friend. She's the one who helped me find my husband among Shousha's extended family, somehow knowing that Meisha would be my perfect match."

"You mean after you and Amami realized you couldn't be together?"

The queen paused in her words, smiling as she continued to stroke Haruka's cheek. "Yes, after that. Kazeko told me that she was going to die and never know her daughter, but she was afraid that the child would never be balanced without her presence. So she asked the rest of us to help her find a husband who would forge a strong child. Setsuna offered one of her young dukes as a suitable mate, a man who would never be able to understand the Uranian concept of _sa'usikha_. She chose someone to make you strong."

"I would rather have a father who loves me than a forge to strengthen me," Haruka hissed, wrapping her fingers around the hilt of her sword. Her mother's spirit was too weak to manifest, but she could feel Kazeko's apology pulsing through her body. The princess's mother had done what she knew was necessary to ensure the future of the Silver Millennium, but she regretted the pain that she had caused her daughter. "So you know. Are you going to tell anyone?"

"It's not my place to tell your secrets."

Haruka nodded in thanks, reluctantly stepping away from the queen. "It's not my place to tell your secrets, either, Majesty." She glanced over her shoulder and gestured for Makoto to step forward, waving a hand at the Jovian princess. "I think your daughter has something she needs to talk to you about, however." She wrapped her arm around Michiru's waist and pulled her away, leaving Makoto alone with her lover and mother.

"Mother . . . you know that senshi are forbidden to marry one another because of an ancient prophecy that the Silver Millennium would fall when that happened."

"Of course I know. That's why Amami and I had to go our separate ways decades ago."

"The reasons for the marriage ban are not entirely true." Makoto reached into her pouch and withdrew the Thunder Cry Crystal, watching confusion fill her mother's pale eyes. "Up until three thousand years ago, the senshi did marry each other, frequently, taking consorts to father their children and wielding powers the likes of which we haven't known since. But Sailor Pluto feared that they would grow too strong and destroy the kingdom, so she ordered them to seal their crystals, limiting their power and preventing the planets from combining their energies. We don't know what could happen when the planets combine, but we think we can control it, prevent it. The keystones were formed from the tears shed by each patron god on the day that the last wielders of these crystals died." She stared into her crystal, her fingers tightening on the smooth surface. "We saw . . . we saw our deaths in our last lives, and my previous incarnation, Mariya, was married to the owner of Ami's soul, Chieko. I intend to marry her, my soul mate, in this life, regardless of the Ancient Laws, as soon as our planet crystals are active."

Meika stared at her daughter, noting the trepidation in her eyes offset by the strength in her stance. The hand not holding the crystal was twined with Ami's, the silent Mercurian offering her unconditional loving support. She could see it, in their eyes, the bonding of their souls, even as Asakaze had claimed to see the bond between her and Amami so long ago. Her daughter was strong and brave, easily the most powerful Sailor Jupiter in recent history, and she claimed to carry the soul of a renowned queen of Jupiter. "I see it, in your eyes. You have the strength always attributed to Queen Mariya the Great. She was the finest and most well-loved ruler we have ever had, and her untimely and unexplained death almost shattered the treaty that holds the Moons of Jupiter together. If, as you say, you are her . . . you might have the strength to fight the prophecy that your marriage to Ami will surely bring. Are you prepared to do that?"

"Of course I am. With her by my side, I can do anything."

Meika smiled at the words, the acceptance in her eyes dispelling Makoto's tension. "Then I give you my blessing. Have you considered who could be your consorts?"

"My brother Kaichou and your son Eiki have offered, whenever we're ready. With the artificial insemination techniques developed on my world, we can conceive without any worry of infidelity on anyone's part. I imagine that our previous incarnations had to deal with that a lot in order to stay together and conceive their heirs."

Meika nodded at the logic offered by her lover's daughter. "Is it odd to say that I wish I had been born as your child and not the other way around? After you—and Haruka and Michiru, it looks like—are done breaking the Ancient Law, there will be nothing to keep your daughters from claiming their soul mates instead of living a life of stolen moments that are never enough to soothe the ache in their hearts. I envy you."

Makoto slipped her crystal back into its pouch, leaning forward to embrace her mother. "I promise that you will be together with Amami in your next life. I will create a world where you will not have to live apart from her."

"When you say that, I believe that you are strong enough to keep that promise."

* * *

Dawn had never brightened her soul, and today it was a particularly grim light. She stared at the rising sun, angry that it could be so bright and cheerful while her world was falling apart. The dark-haired queen let her head fall into her hands as she struggled to control her tears, knowing that the day had come to decide her daughter's fate. The queens and their senshi were going to sentence her daughter to death, and without the protection of a planet, she could never fight them.

"Mommy?"

Yumemi glanced up from her hands, smiling as her daughter slowly walked into her study. Hotaru was small for her age, with huge purple eyes and short, dark purple hair. She was frowning, sensing that her mother was very upset and she feared that she might be the cause of it. "Yes, Hotaru?"

"Did I do something to upset you?"

"No, baby; what makes you think that?"

"You haven't been happy since I got that mark on my forehead. Is it bad?"

Yumemi sighed and pulled her daughter into her arms, kissing her forehead where the mark of Saturn continued to appear periodically. "No, it's not bad, but sometimes that mark is necessary. I'm just hoping that the senshi can prevent . . . whatever is going to happen. I don't want you to be Sailor Saturn."

"I think it would be fun to be a Sailor Senshi and fight evil to protect this solar system and the Princess."

Yumemi smiled at her daughter's innocent words. "I wish it worked like that, but Sailor Saturn isn't like other senshi."

"Why not?"

"Because we don't have a patron god to limit and define our power, so the senshi of this world embodies our god's worst attribute." She ran her fingers through Hotaru's short hair and glanced at the timepiece on the wall. The queens would be arriving soon. "Your father is going to take you shopping today; would you like that?"

"Yes!" Hotaru jumped out of her mother's arms, spinning around in a circle before running for the door. "I'll go get ready!"

Yumemi watched her only child run off, tears threatening to return to her eyes. It had been her duty as the Queen of Saturn to report the glowing mark on her daughter's forehead to Sailor Pluto, but her duty as a mother was to protect her child from death, even at the hands of her fellow senshi. By the end of the day, the senshi would decide what to do about the rise of Saturn, and Yumemi had to be prepared for the worst.

* * *

Yumemi took her seat at the large council table, running her fingers over the dark wood before her and the purple symbol of Saturn engraved in the material. It seemed to mock her, remind her of the seriousness of the first Full Council in nearly fifty years. She had chosen to receive her fellow queens as an equal, sitting beside them at the table, rather than making them parade across the purple carpet in her throne room. She didn't feel like looking down on the women who had to decide her daughter's fate.

The huge double doors swung open to the blast of a trumpet, announcing the arrival of the first royal pair. Yumemi glanced up and smiled, her eyes meeting Amami's gentle gaze as the petite woman led her husband into the chamber. Her eyes were never cold or cruel despite their ice blue color, and her dark blue hair hung lower on her back than Yumemi remembered. She had chosen a simple turquoise-colored gown for the meeting, her jewelry minimal and her sapphire-studded crown settled perfectly on her brow. One step behind her, the distance physical as well as symbolic, Kashin was somber despite his bright blue and white suit. His hair was dark for a man of Neptunian birth, the aqua color offset by a heavy black, and his golden eyes had clearly been inherited from his Uranian grandfather. When Amami married Kashin, Yumemi had heard that she had chosen him for the strange strength he hid behind his Neptunian gentleness, despite the fact that he was unrelated to the Neptunian Royal Line.

The Jovian Royals arrived just as Amami took her seat, the king standing behind her. The Council table was arranged with a single throne at the head of the table for the Queen of the Moon, even though she rarely attended Council Meetings, and a single chair on either side for each planet, one side of the table for queens and the other for senshi. There were no extra chairs for the kings of the world, since there were no kings in the original council meetings.

Meika was one of the tallest queens, and only Setsuna and Kazeko had ever been able to look her in the eye. The warrior queen had pulled her forest green hair into a braid, the style echoing the seriousness in her pale green eyes. The emerald-studded crown of Jupiter sat on her brow, and it was the only jewelry she wore, even the keystone gone from her neck now that her daughter was the senshi. She had chosen to wear a dress in the green and rust red colors used in traditional Jovian armor, her husband matching her in a suit of dark green and black. He was also of Neptunian birth, a close relation of Shousha's line, and his aqua and green hair reflected his high breeding. Meisha's eyes were nearly the same shade as Meika's but just a little icier, and his posture was stiff as he took his place behind his wife's chair.

The three queens stood in shock as the next royal entered the room, Shousha standing alone in the doorway. Her silk dress, colored in blue and covered in intricate patterns of the various creatures that filled the Neptunian seas, was easily the most exquisite in the room, and her tri-colored hair curled down her back like waves dancing on the beach. She had always been the most graceful of the queens as the essence of femininity, but for her first visit with her fellow royals in fourteen years she had chosen to go overboard with her image. The crown on her head sparkled with aquamarines, and the smile on her face reflected the joy in her teal eyes. "Shousha, we didn't expect that you would come," Yumemi murmured, letting her surprise show in her stance and voice.

"I wasn't going to come," the older queen admitted, accepting hugs from Amami and Meika before taking her seat. "Then Setsuna showed up in my Royal Vault and ordered me to show up for this meeting. My daughter . . . Michiru is the senshi, now, and I am as eager to see what the mirror shows her as you are."

The Venusian and Martian Royal Families arrived together, having shared the Martian Royal Ship on the trip through the Solar System. Asakaze walked at the head of the group, the training from her days as Sailor Venus still prevalent in her leadership role. She was still as lovely as she had ever been, her golden hair shining in the light as her pink eyes landed on Shousha. She smiled, welcoming the Neptunian back into the group, lifting the hem of her orange and gold dress as she took her seat beside Amami. Her Martian husband had chosen a red and orange suit to complement his strawberry-colored hair, Shinrai's amber eyes scanning the group cautiously as he instinctively searched for any danger. His former monarch, Rikuriko, led her husband to the table, her dark red dress adorned with small black stones, the darkness of her clothes contrasting with the bright red and gold of her braided hair. Like her counterpart from Jupiter, Rikuriko was dressed more for war than a council meeting, as was to be expected from the Queen of Mars. Her husband was a warrior as well, born on Jupiter, and his suit of black with red accents reminded his fellows of his breeding. Akaneiro, named for his striking red eyes, kept his curly indigo hair cut short in a warrior style popular both on Mars and Jupiter.

The royals greeted each other as old friends, small talk turning to conversations about their planets and families, the familiar chatter setting Yumemi at ease. She was happy to see all of her old friends, the women who had befriended her even though she wasn't a senshi like them. She began to relax, listening to stories about the other queen's children, freezing as the door opened once more.

Silence reigned in the conference chamber as the final queen entered, wearing a long, tight black dress covered in tiny gems that sparkled in the light. Her dark green hair reached past her hips, part of it tied into a small bun while the rest flowed unrestrained behind her as she approached the table. She held the ever-present Time Key in one hand and a box of data crystals in the other, her garnet eyes silently greeting each queen in turn. Setsuna reached her seat on the queen side of the table, turning to face her friends as she placed her box on the flat surface before her, partially covering the symbol of Pluto engraved into the wood. "You all seem very surprised to see me."

"The dress is not your usual attire," Asakaze returned, smiling at the older queen. "It makes you look different, more powerful."

Setsuna chuckled as she sat, the sound as unexpected to her fellow queens as the colored gems covering her dress. "It was a present from Aphrodite. She thought I needed some sparkle in my wardrobe."

"Do you often converse with my patron god?"

Setsuna shrugged. "Not really, but she was kind enough to help me trace some of the anomalous readings I have been tracking through the Time Streams so that I would have something to report to you today. Have the senshi not arrived yet?"

Meika chose to allow Setsuna to change the flow of the conversation, shrugging as she glanced at the door. "Rei has been healing in my palace for the past two days, but they said that she would be ready to teleport with them today. I offered to let them ride with us, but Makoto wanted to get in some sparring practice with her brothers instead. I expect them any moment, actually."

"The senshi were visiting you?" Setsuna, who normally kept close tabs on all of the royal families in the system, found herself shocked to have fallen out of the loop. She had been staring into her time streams without sleeping or eating for days, ever since that golden light rebuffed the power of her Garnet Orb and locked the Time Gate.

Meika shrugged and glanced at Rikuriko, Amami, and Asakaze. "They've visited all of us, from what Makoto told me. They wanted to get some fighting practice in various environments throughout the system before this meeting. I think they planned on visiting Uranus and Neptune, as well, but with Rei so badly injured they decided to wait."

"Rei was injured? How?" Rikuriko's voice carried an undertone of concern, but her eyes were calm. She knew that her daughter could take care of herself, but she still wanted to make sure that everything was alright.

"Um, Makoto said her leg was grabbed rather unceremoniously by a young _Lortest Basiil_ , the largest water predator on Metis. Their teeth are serrated and she suffered extensive damage to her skin and the musculature of her thigh as well as some mild heavy metal poisoning from the water itself. Her senshi healing already had her on her feet before we left, though there was still some pain. I'm sure she's alright by now."

"How did she kill it?" As a Jovian, Akaneiro knew the reputation of the large reptilian predators of the harsh rainforests of Metis, and he had only heard a few stories of hunters successfully killing a _Basiil_ without being maimed themselves.

"I'm told she burst into flames and burned it to a crisp," Meika replied. "It sounded like something you did, Rikuriko, during that battle on Pluto years ago, and I admit that I wish I had been able to see it."

Rikuriko snorted and shook her head, remembering the surge of pure _fear_ that had precipitated her own reaction on Pluto so long ago. "She probably burned herself out doing it, too. Instinctive reactions and all that."

Setsuna shook her head and narrowed her eyes, fingers playing absently with the box in front of her. "You say they were on Metis?"

"Yes. The forests of Metis are the roughest and most dangerous the Moons of Jupiter have to offer, and it clearly offered a valuable training experience for all of them."

"They visited Kirash Crater on Deimos to train in the snow. It's certainly one of the most unforgiving and icy places on my world."

Amami shrugged when Setsuna turned to her. "I'm not sure why they picked the Daire Basin; it's just an empty grassland, but I suppose that having a huge, empty place to practice their active powers was helpful. I know that we destroyed quite a few open fields in our days as senshi."

"I don't think they did much training on Venus," Asakaze admitted, remembering some of the reports she had received from the inhabitants of the town above Sunrise Bay the day after the senshi left. One of the most secluded beaches had been turned into a sheet of glass shot through with shafts of pure golden light, a phenomenon her people were already attributing to a visit from the goddess Aphrodite. Lightning had struck the beach in hundreds of other places, leaving strange branching glass sculptures reaching deep into the sand, and a fierce storm had shaken the trees, leaving branches, leaves, and flowers littering the beaches and floating in the water. Some of the trees had even experienced frost damage, of all things, blackened leaves still littering the ground days later. "They went to Sunrise Bay to relax. I'm sure Minako was eager to show off the most beautiful sight on our world, the view from the promontory overlooking the Bay, even as I was eager to show it to all of you just after we completed all of our training on the Moon." Her message was clear to the other Inner Queens: they had chosen the beach for purely romantic reasons. Setsuna never heard the subtext in her words, the kings had no idea that their daughters were running around with senshi lovers, and Shousha believed that her child was safely married and beyond the temptation of a senshi's touch.

"Those locations," Setsuna whispered, reaching for her staff with her free hand; "they seem so familiar. I feel like I should know them, but it's been lifetimes." Just before her fingers touched the Garnet Orb and its power to sharpen her memories, a brilliant flash of multicolored light filled the room, fading to reveal five senshi standing proudly in a circle around the Moon Princess, who was dressed in the traditional simple white dress of the Lunarian Royals, gold filigree cupping her still-growing breasts. Staring at the child she had not seen in fourteen years, Setsuna froze in shock, pulling her hand away from her talisman as she stood, bowing to the High Princess of the Silver Millennium. The other queens and kings mimicked her action, all of them waiting until Serenity took the seat at the head of the table before returning to their own.

The five senshi took their own chairs opposite their mothers, the Uranus seats on both sides of the table conspicuously empty. Setsuna listened to the queens greet the High Princess, glancing along the row of senshi while she waited for the women to quiet down. The senshi were strong, power evident even while they were sitting, their eyes blazing with the links to their planets. She couldn't remember seeing such power in thousands of years, and she had never expected those children who attended Serenity's Presentation to become such strong senshi so incredibly fast. None of them had possessed their henshin sticks for more than a month, yet she could sense that all of them had far surpassed their mothers already. She could see the leadership in Venus's pale blue eyes, the passion in Mars's amethyst, the wisdom in Mercury's sapphire, and the power in Jupiter's emerald. The Inner Senshi were at ease with each other, a solid team, and even Neptune seemed to be included in their group, something that was rare early in the senshi cycle. The senshi of the eighth planet stared off into space, her unfocused gaze pointed toward the symbol of the Uranian queen and the empty chair behind it, as if she was waiting for something.

Setsuna realized that, even if Michiru was not waiting for someone, she herself was. "I wonder where Haruka is."

Setsuna's words silenced the room, the dark queen watching the senshi for any reaction. Venus shrugged, opening her mouth to respond, but Shousha's hissed reply prevented the blonde from speaking. "You wonder where she is when she abandoned her world and spurred them to the point of war?! That irresponsible child doesn't deserve to be a part of this council!"

"Shousha, I told you that there is no reason to hate Haruka. She has never done anything to you." Amami's words were calm and soothing, but her Neptunian counterpart was no more ready to listen now than she had been twenty-one years earlier.

"Of course I have a reason! She took my Kazeko away from me."

"Kazeko was never yours," Sailor Venus replied coldly, her eyes icy as she stared the blue-haired queen down. Her own senshi turned toward her respectfully, waiting for her to continue, while the queens stared at her in shock. Senshi or not, leader or not, how could she dare speak to Shousha in that manner? "You can't claim someone as yours if you never had the courage to hold on to her."

"Kazeko loved me!"

"Kazeko loved her world, and her people, and her princess," Venus rebutted, leaning forward across the table. "She died for them, to give _them_ a strong daughter, a powerful senshi, and a woman who could stand against the darkness. Kazeko knew that she would always be weak despite the planet of her birth, but she could give the next generation a fighting chance by dying. You can tell that she loved _us_ more than she ever loved you because she could _never_ sacrifice the future to be with _you_."

Silence filled the chamber, Venus never softening her gaze and Shousha unable to look away. Minako was tired of the Neptunian queen's venom, her hatred of the blonde who had become friends with the rest of the senshi. She was tired of Haruka being punished for something she neither wanted and had no control over, and she knew that the Uranian wished her mother had not died as much as Shousha did. Kazeko's death twenty-one years earlier had fractured the senshi, leaving all of them weak or unable to transform, and Minako was determined to keep her own team intact and strong, despite Shousha's hatred for Haruka.

"This isn't what we're here to discuss," Serenity reminded Venus softly from her place at the head of the table. Her smile was gentle as she waved a hand at Setsuna, meeting the dark queen's eyes for just a moment. "I think that Setsuna called us here for something far more important."

The Queen of Pluto nodded as she opened her box of data crystals, pulling a dark green one out as Venus and Shousha looked away from each other at last. There was no gentle way to begin this meeting, and it wouldn't help to put off the inevitable, so Setsuna slipped her data crystal into the reader at the base of her planetary symbol. The Time Knot as she had first observed it appeared above the table, the senshi and queens staring at the tangled mess in confusion. "Not long ago, I discovered a disturbance in the time stream that stretches back almost exactly twenty-one years into the past and ends less than a year from now. What you're looking at is the end of the Silver Millennium."

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **AN:** Well, that was a long one. At chapter 10 I said I thought we might be halfway through. I lied. Whatever, the council meeting has now started. And, yes, I did intentionally send Haruka off to do something and the senshi did intentionally not answer the question or indicate that the know her. You'll find out next chapter. Did you like the part where _depose_ and _behead_ are the same word in Oberonian?


	22. Council of Titans

**Chapter 22: Council of Titans**

* * *

_February 20, 8983_

* * *

Oberon was a desert world, and such a dry, harsh environment tended to breed harsh women with little patience for weakness. Ono Hikari pondered that truth as she stared across the courtyard of her palace, watching the wind play with the purple blossoms of the _miki rose_ that she had named her youngest daughter after, wondering why they were blooming nearly a month early. Her gardens, crowded with succulent plants that loved the dry desert days, were meticulously kept and some of the most exquisite among the War Queens' palaces. Staring at the greenery calmed her soul, something she needed desperately with the War Queen Council scheduled later that morning. She heard a slight movement behind her, but her warrior senses did not alert her to any danger from her visitor, so the golden-eyed woman assumed that one of her many children had entered the chamber. "I'm not in the mood to talk."

"You just have to be in the mood to listen," a husky voice replied, the faintest touch of amusement in her tone. Hikari spun on one heel, staring at the woman behind her in shock, taking in the navy and gold senshi uniform and brilliant emerald eyes before falling to her knees.

"Princess."

Haruka rolled her eyes and stepped forward, pulling Hikari to her feet. "Don't bow to me. I came here for advice."

"Again?" Hikari led Haruka to a low table, offering her a cup of tea as they both took a seat. She waited for her princess to drop her transformation before summoning a servant to bring snacks. "You have your wife; what more could I help you with?"

"I heard that the War Queen Council is voting to depose him. Is it true?"

Hikari sighed and nodded. "Yes. When Taichen Laira came back from Mercury and gave us your message, the Council was divided. Half of us wanted to sit back and wait for your return, and the other half wanted to go to war. If Koshu had chosen a side, we would probably have followed him, despite the tension between us over the years. But he denounced Laira's message, claiming that she could never have seen you and that you were never going to return to Uranus. It was the worst thing he could have said."

"I'm sorry," Haruka whispered, staring out the window. "I wanted her message to keep the other queens from voting for war; I knew that your coalition couldn't keep them grounded forever."

"No, you did the right thing. Sanae, Ado, and I were losing the other queens, and with Sixth Yasuda Mari so sick, we didn't have enough of a vote to prevent a war. Your actions and Koshu's response did accomplish one thing: we are now united against the king. We vote today to depose him."

"The vote will pass," Haruka noted absently. "He has never been popular. What should I do? I didn't think I was ready to return yet, but if I have to . . ."

"You have a choice to make, Haruka. You can appear before the War Queen Council and announce your intention to take the throne the next time the four other moons appear in the sky, or you can let us depose him and hope that the Council remains locked in debate until you are truly ready to return."

"There are things I still have to do, Hikari. I can't come home yet. I still have a meeting on Titan sometime after their dawn, a visit to Miranda and Larissa, and my presentation at Michiru's birthday in two weeks. If I take the crown now, I can't do any of that and the Silver Millennium might fall."

"If you don't come home to control your people, it certainly will," Hikari countered, standing from her chair and walking to the computer console nestled against the wall. She tapped a command, pulling up the orbital patterns of the Moons of Uranus, sighing thoughtfully as a date appeared at the bottom of the screen. "I received an invitation to Michiru's birthday party, as your supposed mother, and it looks like the four moons will be in the sky two days after that celebration. Can you finish everything on your list in time to be crowned then?"

Haruka sighed and nodded, running her fingers through her blonde hair. "Probably. I just . . . I don't think that I'm ready to be queen, Hikari." There was a vulnerability in Haruka's voice that her war queen had only heard once before, when Kazeko admitted that she knew she was going to die. Haruka was so young . . . she had been queen since the day she was born, but that didn't mean she wasn't allowed to have her doubts.

The tall War Queen returned to Haruka's side, running her long fingers through the younger woman's hair before resting a gentle hand on her cheek. Hikari had seven sons and six daughters; she knew that Kazeko's daughter needed some motherly support now, of all times. Those intense emerald eyes filled with tears and Hikari smiled. "Sometimes I forget how young you are. Haruka, no one is ever ready to be queen, but this is your destiny. You are the queen Kazeko promised us, and we are beyond ready to follow you. You are the Avatar of Uranus, the oldest living god, the most powerful entity in this solar system, and she would never have chosen you to be the senshi of this world if you were not ready to also be its queen. The meeting of the War Council is in two hours; take some time to visit the temple to your patron goddess and ask _her_ if you are ready."

Haruka nodded slowly, glancing down at her suit before smiling wryly at the older woman. "I need a dress."

* * *

The High Temple of Uranus on Titania received hundreds of thousands of visitors a week as the largest and most prestigious place to worship the patron goddess, so the arrival of a tall woman wrapped in a navy cloak went unnoticed by the gold-garbed priests. The woman, her face in shadow, walked across the huge hall, the tall heels of her shoes leaving soft impressions in the plush carpet, coming to a stop before the statue of Uranus and the altar before it. She turned to the High Priest standing on the dais above her, letting the light hit her face. "Leave."

The priest scoffed at her, not recognizing the tall woman or her husky voice, but when she tore her cloak off and dropped it to the ground, he fell to his knees. Her silky navy dress was simple and unremarkable though clearly very expensive, the gold embroidery along the hem and the golden gem hanging from a chain around her neck contrasting nicely with the dark color. The lithe woman had a simple golden sash around her hips, accenting her slender waist and hips. The priest stuttered something incoherent as he supplicated himself at her feet, noting the blonde hair restrained by a gem-encrusted circlet and the intense emerald eyes that looked through him and reduced him to this quivering mass. Her power and lineage were evident in her stance, the strength in her arms, and the power glowing from her gold-tinted emerald eyes. "I am y-your humble s-servant," he finally managed, finding his voice as those green eyes narrowed in anger.

"I know you are. Leave. Everyone. Clear the temple."

"Y-yes of course!" The man stood and ran to the nearest cluster of priests, issuing a series of orders as he pointed at the tall blonde, desperate not to incur her wrath. The priests scattered, gathering clouds of acolytes and using them to help clear hundreds of supplicants from the temple, unable to explain why they had to leave.

Haruka grew impatient with their methods, eager to be rid of the priests and worshippers alike, so she raised her hand to the ceiling. Wind wrapped around her lithe form and rushed through the room, physically removing the last of the stragglers and slamming the huge double doors closed behind them. Satisfied that she was finally alone, Haruka took the ceremonial knife resting on the altar before her and touched it to her unblemished left palm, watching as a few drops of blood stained the stone before her. "Uranus, Goddess of the Winds, patron of my planet, I summon you."

A gust of wind exploded from the tall marble statue dominating the back of the dais, pushing Haruka back and forcing her to drop the knife. Growling something rude in Uranian, she summoned the Space Sword and held it before her, pushing back with her own power. A chuckle filled the great hall as the wind ceased, a tall woman appearing on the dais above the princess. "So arrogant."

Haruka sheathed her sword and raised one eyebrow, taking a moment to examine the goddess before speaking. Uranus was taller than her and just as slender, a simple golden dress hanging from her shoulders and hugging her hips before falling to the floor. The goddess's hair was the same shade as Haruka's, though she was currently wearing it a little longer and braided with tiny diamonds. She appeared feminine enough, but Haruka could see the _sajink_ in her deep emerald eyes, could feel the power pulsing off of the goddess and threatening to drown her. "What did you expect from your lineage?"

Uranus snorted and nodded, stepping down from the dais and toning down her presence. "Why did you call me here, Uranus Haruka? I have been expecting your blood on my altar for more than a decade; why now?"

Haruka sighed and walked away, glancing at the ornamental benches and statues to the goddess scattered throughout the great hall. "I'm not sure, really. I was talking to Ono Hikari and she told me that I should bring my doubts to you."

"Doubts about what?"

"Everyone has these expectations of me. I'm told that my mother sacrificed herself for me, to make me strong enough, but no one seems to know what I am supposed to be strong enough _for_. They tell me that the world is falling apart, that only me taking my place as queen can save it, but how am I supposed to know if I am ready to be queen?"

Uranus walked around the room, touching several of the statues and nibbling on some of the offerings. Her voice, which had been light and teasing, had dropped to a lower octave as she thought back to the beginning of the Silver Millennium. "A long time ago, nearly ten thousand years ago, the Trio decided that they wanted to create civilizations among the various planets. The people they created were wild, and the leaders were without direction despite their great powers. Over the generations, perhaps three thousand years later, the people grew weak and the Trio looked to their parents for answers. They were children, godlings, but they wanted to be remembered for something. Zeus told them that the senshi they had given so much power to needed direction and wisdom. They needed patron gods. Saturn could never have a patron, due to the direction her power takes, and Pluto is in a category by herself, but the other five patron gods were willing to breed into the royal lineages of their planets and solidify the hold they had on their worlds.

"The Trio hunted me down in my solitude and begged me to return, to create a race of warriors on Uranus fashioned in my own image. After so many millennia of solitude, I was tempted, but after Cronos's rebellion I wasn't comfortable being seen by the other gods. Se took me to Zeus and asked him to grant me a female form. He turned me into the infant child of the reigning Uranian Queen, and I grew to love my people. I trained them, giving them all of the knowledge of _sajink_ and _saliis_ so that they could be the perfect warriors. And, one day, I gave birth to a daughter of my own to wield my power and continue my mission so that I could return to my family on Olympus." Uranus stopped her restless pacing, standing in front of Haruka as she reached up and brushed a lock of blonde hair away from the senshi's face. "My daughter . . . you carry her soul, Haruka. That soul has only been reborn five times before now, and every time you walk through this world you carry the burden of the galaxy on your shoulders. This lifetime is going to be no different. There are things I can see as a primordial, pre-Titan god that no one else would understand."

"Like what?"

"There is a choice coming, Haruka. A choice only you can make. Your decision will either save the Silver Millennium or destroy it. Either way, no matter what happens, you must understand that you are my last senshi."

Haruka stared at the goddess in shock, emerald eyes paling to grey as she struggled to absorb Uranus's words. "Your . . . last senshi? Then the Silver Millennium will fall no matter what I do."

The goddess shook her head, unfocused stormy blue eyes staring at the stained-glass windows of her temple. "That's not necessarily true. You have two paths, Haruka. One path will lead to the destruction of everything you know, the loss of everyone you love, and the shattering of the crystals that hold the souls of the planets. The other path will lead to a glorious future where your children will shine as brilliant golden lights of hope in the darkness."

"Lights?"

Uranus turned back to her senshi, reaching out to rest a hand on her cheek as her ancient, intense eyes stared _through_ the senshi. Her voice, when she finally spoke again, was softly contemplative, as if she herself did not fully understand the vision she saw before her. "Two lights, two golden lights. One will guard the dreams of the past and the other will guard the souls of the future."

"You're saying that I will have children, but just a moment ago you said that I am your last senshi. How can that be? A senshi's first daughter is always her heir."

The goddess smiled and shook her head. "No. Your first daughter will not be the heir to your senshi power, but the heir to a destiny larger than you can understand, assuming you survive the coming darkness. If you choose correctly, if you can save them all, then you will be my last senshi because you are the strongest one I have ever had. I will never need another one after you." Pride shone from her blue-green eyes as she smiled at the senshi, amazed at how perfect a woman Kazeko's daughter had grown into.

"I don't understand how I can be your ultimate senshi. I don't feel that strong, Uranus, and I don't feel ready to have the fate of the Silver Millennium resting on my shoulders. Honestly, I just feel lost."

"I know you do, my child. There was a book you found on Earth, an ancient book of prophecies. As the legend goes, Se looked into the Time Gate one day and screamed at what she found. She saw the death of her beloved Serenity, the death of her soul mate, the destruction of the Silver Millennium, and the shattering of the talismans carried by the children of the lineages she founded. However, she did see other things. There is a prophecy simply called _Rebirth_ that she could never fully understand, but I am telling you now that you must read it. It concerns you and your fellow senshi. Souls tend to travel through time together, and the six of you have been doing that for thousands of years. Do you know who your last incarnation was?"

Haruka slowly nodded, running her fingers through her hair in an effort to calm herself. Uranus was telling her things that she had never expected to hear and certainly did not want to know, but it was information that she would need in order to defeat the coming darkness. "I was the one who fought in the Antares Uprising, wasn't I? I was Queen Nao the Conqueror who led our forces to victory throughout multiple solar systems and returned here in triumph only to die mysteriously a week later."

"Yes. When you returned here, Se told you that she had to seal all of your planet crystals because Reiko and Minami had almost broken an ancient taboo that prevented the planets from combining their power. Their actions, all unknowing, endangered this solar system, something she could not allow amid the chaos at the end of the Sailor Wars. The others all said that they would not let her weaken them, but the decision was yours, in the end. You ordered them to obey, because you were the only senshi who could truly understand the danger that Se feared. Reiko told her fellow Inner Senshi that the only way to seal the powers of the planets would be to die in the presence of their patron gods, but you were the one who gave her that information. If you had refused, the planets would never have been sealed and the crystals would never have been hidden."

"It's my choice again, isn't it? I will be the one to discover how to break the power of the keystones and return the full power of my planet to my crystal." Uranus nodded. "Should I unlock them? Is that the right path? Or will the planets combine and destroy us all like the prophecy says?"

"I can't answer that. I wouldn't even if I could. Haruka, my beloved daughter, my perfect avatar, it is _your_ choice. No one can help you, not even your Michiru."

Haruka jerked back in shock, eyes wide at her wife's name. "How do you know?"

Uranus chuckled and looked away, the faintest blush coloring her cheeks. "When an emotion is powerful enough, a god can sense her avatar's thoughts and feelings. Your love for Poseidon's avatar is strong, and your lust is stronger. I've had to take a lover again just to deal with everything you're sending me."

The urge to apologize for the effect she was having on her god warred with pride in the blonde's eyes, a wry smile finally appearing on her face. "Who?"

"You would ask that! Pervert. Before you claimed your henshin stick, I tended to end up in Aphrodite's bed, but she's been busy keeping Se and Ares company recently, so I have convinced Artemis to return to me."

"The _virgin_ goddess of the hunt? Well done."

"The virgin part is open to interpretation," Uranus replied, echoing her avatar's grin. "It just means that she has never taken a _male_ lover. You should have seen that time that she challenged Athena to a drinking contest and _both_ of them ended up in my bed."

Haruka laughed, walking across the floor and shaking her head in disbelief. "I suppose you really are my patron goddess. My mother knew all of this, didn't she? I mean, you told her that I would be her daughter."

"Yes. I told her to make you strong, because you will have to be. Your choice is going to be hard, Haruka. And, in the end, when the darkness is before you at last, you must decide what you _truly_ want. If you can, everyone will be saved."

"All of this . . . everything you've told me . . . it makes my concern about taking the throne seem trivial. I need to be queen to protect the princess, don't I? It was never really a choice."

"No. But there are other, very important things that you must do before taking your crown. You must find your crystal, you must activate your crystal, and you must be in that small castle on Larissa on the night of Michiru's birthday."

Haruka tilted her head to one side, emerald eyes curious. "Michi's retreat? Why? I've only been there once, and it doesn't seem like the kind of place to spend the night. I only saw the main room, with the piano; I don't know if she even has a bed there."

Uranus smiled, turning away to hide the blush darkening her cheeks again. "There is most certainly a bed there. I don't know why you have to spend the night in that castle, but I promise that you _must_ be there."

Haruka nodded slowly, turning away from the goddess and running her fingers over the colorful jewels on the hilt of the ceremonial knife she had picked up again a moment earlier. Uranus glanced at her senshi and her eyes widened as she realized how beautiful the child was in her silky navy dress, every curve visible in the warm golden light of her temple. "I will be there," the blonde whispered, her voice softer and more feminine than it had ever been before.

"You're beautiful," Uranus breathed, her voice low and nearly as husky as Haruka's was normally. The senshi turned, concerned at the sudden deep timbre of her goddess's voice, grunting in shock as the tall immortal pinned her against the golden altar, claiming her lips in a passionate kiss. Haruka pushed the goddess away, shocked emerald eyes noting the lust in Uranus's golden orbs.

"What are you doing? I'm married!"

Uranus shrugged and touched her lips, letting her eyes rake over Haruka's body once more. "So was Aphrodite when I first enticed her to my bed."

Haruka narrowed her eyes and crossed her arms over her chest, tapping her foot on the floor. "That's no excuse. Michiru is a jealous one; she'll tear you apart." Uranus shrugged, running her long fingers through her hair in an echo of Haruka's own nervous habit. "What was that?"

"I just felt the urge. You've slept with hundreds of women, so you can't judge me."

"Well, you better not do it again. Michiru might actually be capable of killing you."

Uranus smirked and nodded, walking back to her altar as her eyes darkened back to emerald. "I won't. Remember what I told you today, Haruka, and tell your fellow senshi. Setsuna will not be pleased that I can see things she can't, but these are things that you _must_ know in order to save the Silver Millennium."

Haruka nodded and summoned her sword once more, pausing as the golden energy of her planet swirled around her in preparation for her teleport. "Is it something I can control? When you feel me while I'm with Michiru; can I prevent it?"

"I don't think so. None of my other avatars have ever been able to. Nao used to be able to force the bond between us when she was in a particularly irritable mood, and she could overwhelm me. She only did it when I was courting a goddess she wasn't fond of, and eventually I gave in to her demands and seduced Artemis."

Haruka raised one eyebrow as the seed of an idea sprouted in her mind. "She could make you feel more than usual? How did she do it?"

Uranus crossed her arms over her chest. "If I knew how, I would have stopped her. Do you know how irritating it is to be overwhelmingly horny with no permanent lover to take the edge off?"

Haruka chuckled and nodded, raising her sword to the sky. "Of course I know. But then I found Michiru." She vanished in a burst of wind, the blonde goddess raising one hand and silencing her element in the emptiness left behind.

"Just like Nao; always determined to get the last word," Uranus grumbled, staring around her temple thoughtfully. On the floor behind the altar, taking up most of the raised dais at the feet of her statue, a golden cloth covered a long, wide table holding piles of rolled scrolls, each one a desperate prayer to her. She picked one at random and opened it, smiling as she recognized Haruka's tiny, compressed hand. _Let me find her_. She read the four small words again, running her finger over the princess's seal at the bottom of the paper, noting that the request was dated nearly two months ago. "Be happy, my child," she whispered, turning the scroll into a shower of golden dust and watching it fall to the floor at her feet. In the silence of her temple, the memory of Haruka's lips taunted her, and Uranus looked up as she called out a name, her eyes gold once more. "Artemis."

A slender woman dressed in silver and white armor appeared beside Uranus on the dais, a golden bow poking out of the ornate quiver on her back and her long, silvery blonde hair tied in braids and wrapped around her head. She was one of the few Olympian goddesses who could almost look Uranus in the eye, nearly as tall as the blonde, and she invariably wore boots with heels to keep their height the same. She had been out hunting in the forests of Olympus, probably with her Amazons, and the flash of irritation in her silvery blue eyes let the older goddess know that she was in no mood for games. "This had better be important." Her voice was cold, sharp, and usually enough to deter anyone from getting close to her. Uranus, however, knew that a loving and passionate woman existed beneath the virgin huntress exterior, and she had spent too many years carefully seducing the woman to be bothered by her harsh words.

"I need you," Uranus purred, slipping the quiver off Artemis's back with practiced ease, brushing the huge pile of scrolls to the floor with one arm while she grabbed the huntress with the other. Artemis squealed indignantly as Uranus tossed her onto the table, the blonde dropping her dress to the floor before climbing on top of her. She grinned as Artemis surrendered to her ministrations, the younger goddess finally noticing the color of her partner's eyes as Uranus leaned down to claim her lips.

* * *

"What is that?"

"It's a time knot," Setsuna replied, glancing at Venus as the senshi leaned forward, her blue eyes dancing over the tangled mess in an effort to sort it out. She glanced at her fellow senshi and waved her hand, letting her transformation fade as the meeting began in earnest. The other four women followed suit, each of them dressed in the colors of their planets and wearing little jewelry other than their keystones. Setsuna reached up to touch the image floating above the table, marking the time periods at either end and certain key strands that she had identified in the middle. "This is what it looked like when I first saw it. You can see how compressed the time period is and how many entities were originally involved in this tangled mess. As the last few weeks have passed, certain parts of the knot have unraveled or vanished, and I have also been able to identify key players in the inevitable outcome." She added more data crystals into the computer console, loading seven different time knots, letting them float above the table as she highlighted the most recent one. "These colored strands here are the senshi, all of you, and the pink and gold strands here represent Tranquility and his Cupids. I don't know what this dark strand here is, but it's very large and it worries me."

"What's that?" Michiru leaned forward and pointed at a silver/gold spot in the center of the knot, the part that was not quite a thread but more of a cloud that protected the other strands.

"That's someone I met in the past," Setsuna replied, trying to decide how much she could reveal about Helios. "I traveled nine hundred years into the past and found a man with the power to guard dreams watching over the Golden Crystal of Earth. He says that he is part of the time disturbance but that I won't understand until the end. He also says that the Cupids are stirring, and it seemed to bother him."

"It should bother him," Minako returned, wrapping her hand around the image of the latest time knot and pulling it to her side of the table. "I've never trusted those Cult of the Broken Wing fanatics. Hmm, it looks like two of the senshi strands are separate from the rest of us, possibly Haruka and Michiru since they're the Outer Senshi. And here, what is this one?"

Setsuna banished the older versions of the time knot, tapping a command into her console to summon a copy of the image before each queen and princess. She stared at the knot, crimson eyes widening as she noticed a new strand, a dark purple one that began just before the end, wrapping around the senshi strands, the silver/white one that represented Queen Serenity, the silver/white/gold one that represented Princess Serenity, and the dark garnet one that represented herself. "That's . . . that's Sailor Saturn. How did I never see that before?"

"Sailor Saturn is going to rise?"

"Yes," Yumemi whispered, closing her eyes in pain. "Hotaru . . . she already has the mark. Whatever darkness you see in that time knot is bad enough to call forth the senshi of destruction."

"Which is worse? The darkness we can't identify or the rise of the senshi who can and will destroy everything?"

"I don't know, Minako. That's the point of the meeting. We have to determine what this darkness is, and we have to decide what to do about Sailor Saturn."

"What do you mean, what to do about her?" Serenity's voice was cautious, her blue eyes watching Setsuna intently. "You mean that you might have to kill her, don't you?"

"If she rises, everything will be destroyed."

"Saturn has risen before, and the Silver Millennium still exists. She won't destroy us, just the coming darkness."

"And whatever planet she's on," Setsuna countered, dark crimson eyes holding Serenity's gaze for only a second before she looked away. "The last Sailor Saturn destroyed one of the largest rocky worlds in the Antares System because there was no other way to end the Sailor Wars. It's just an asteroid belt now. Would you have that happen here? Do you want her to destroy Mars or Venus to stop the darkness? Would you prefer if Earth were turned into an asteroid belt and the Moon with it?"

"No," Serenity whispered, backing down as tears filled her eyes. "But you can't kill an innocent child because of something she _might_ do against her will! Hasn't there ever been a case of the senshi of Saturn fighting alongside the others instead of just swinging her scythe and destroying everything? Her power may be different than theirs, but she must have other abilities besides her dreaded _Death Reborn Revolution_."

"She does," Setsuna admitted, remembering the day her daughter Hibana had accepted the scythe, becoming the first Sailor Saturn. "The first few queens of Saturn were senshi, like all of you, and they had full control of their power. Over time, all of the royal lines lost their divinity, becoming weak until they could no longer become senshi. At that point, the Trio asked the patron gods of the planets to offer their powers to keep the royal lines strong. Zeus, Poseidon, Hermes, and Ares fathered the next generation of senshi on their planets and Aphrodite was born as the daughter of the queen of Venus. The Trio found Uranus and convinced her to return to the Pantheon and be born as the child of the Queen of her world, but there is no patron god of Saturn. In an attempt to rejuvenate the Saturn Royal Line, the gods ground Cronos's bones to powder and used the magic in them to infuse the newborn princess of this world with the powers of ruin and rebirth."

"The problem with that method," Yumemi continued, raising her head from her hands, "is that there is no god to control our powers. Without a patron god to control the power of Sailor Saturn, she can only destroy."

"That doesn't mean you can kill her," Serenity whispered. "Setsuna, we can find another way to save this kingdom." Her blue eyes met Setsuna's garnet orbs across the long table, and the dark queen paused as she stared at the blonde. Her eyes . . . they were so much like her mother's, despite the color, and Setsuna had never been able to say no to her beloved queen. She felt her resolve waver as she noted the beginning of tears in those blue orbs, and she shook her head before she looked away.

"Fine," Setsuna whispered, "killing her is no longer an option." She sensed Yumemi relax beside her, grateful for the decision, and the dark queen sighed. "But what else can we do? How do we stop the coming destruction?"

* * *

"Settle down; the meeting will begin soon." Yasuda Mari leaned forward across the council table, coughing as the movement aggravated her disease. Her skin was pale as she sipped her glass of water, grimacing at the taste of the medicine her doctor had slipped into the liquid. The other War Queens watched her silently, respecting her for being the eldest while they worried about her sickness. "Is he here yet?"

"We sent some guards to fetch him," Ado replied, typing on her computer as she nibbled on a honey cake contemplatively. "He refused the summons."

"He hates our princess, ignores our traditions, and flaunts our laws," Sanae grumbled, brushing her strawberry-blonde hair out of her face. "I really should get my hair cut."

"You should," Hikari agreed, sipping her tea. "I've always said that shorter hair works better with your cheekbones. Why did you ever grow it out?"

Sanae turned to her left, glaring at the Third War Queen. Tahara Hiroko chuckled and took Sanae's hand, kissing it gently. "You looked so lovely on my arm at the ball three months ago. It was worth it."

"I'm still cutting it off. Your hair is long enough for the both of us." Hiroko brushed her black hair over her shoulder and shrugged, returning to the report she had been reading before Mari tried to call the meeting to order.

A scuffling sound at the door to the council chamber caught her attention, all of the War Queens leaning forward expectantly. The Lesser War Queens, those who were in-system and could attend, stood from their tables and watched in silence as a contingent of guards entered the room, _Kazemaru_ Ono Miki in the lead with her strong fingers wrapped around Koshu's right arm. Lesser War Queen Taichen Laira held on to his other arm, her green eyes hard as she shoved him toward the podium below the lower table. The ten women at the upper table watched in silence as Miki and Laira took up positions on either side of the podium, daring the king to move as the rest of the guards spread out through the room. Mari nodded sagely and gestured for the Lesser War Queens to sit, tapping her fingers on the table.

"Ado, call the meeting to order."

The First War Queen nodded and stood, leaning across the table and glaring at her king, her gold-flecked green eyes furious. She had pulled her reddish-brown hair into a high ponytail, a sure sign to her fellow queens that she was in a foul mood. "You refused our summons, Koshu of Pluto."

"I'm your king. I don't have to answer to you."

"Yes, you do," Ado replied, taking her seat again. "The only person who rules over the War Queen Council is the Queen of Uranus. The position of _king_ has no translation in our tongue; it's an honorary word we use to please the other kingdoms, but in this room we all know the truth. You're just Kazeko's consort. With Haruka gone, you have no power at all. We're here to vote on whether to keep you as king."

Koshu crossed his arms over his chest. "You can't depose me."

"We could behead you instead," Seventh War Queen Takeda Keiko offered, her gold eyes glowing maliciously from behind her curtain of purple-tinted black hair. "We wouldn't even have to rewrite the interplanetary notices."

"Keiko," Katayama Sayuri hissed, the youngest and lowest ranked War Queen the only one willing to reprimand the bloodthirsty daughter of a Saturnian Duke and the previous Seventh War Queen. She narrowed her turquoise eyes at the older woman, the four braids in her blue hair hanging in front of her face.

Keiko sighed and crossed her arms, relenting as Fifth War Queen Nishina Yuri stood from her chair. Her dark red hair hung over her shoulders in gentle waves, the tall woman one of the most feminine of the War Queens despite the steel in her greenish hazel eyes. "Lesser War Queen Taichen Laira, please repeat the message you received from Princess Haruka before you returned from Mercury."

"I said that I would return when I was ready!"

All eyes turned to the door as shocked silence spread through the room. Haruka stood just inside the doorway, her elegant navy dress embroidered in gold and a simple circlet restraining her wild blonde hair. Her emerald eyes passed over everyone in the room, pausing for a moment on Hikari, Miki, and Laira before she turned her fury on her father. "I _told_ you not to go to war. I _told_ you to wait for me," she hissed, the faintest golden glow surrounding her form. For the first time in her life, she had intentionally dressed like a woman as her father requested, but it was clear that her choice had nothing to do with him. The dress couldn't hide the strength of her warrior stance or the power flowing through her, and all of the women in the room bowed their heads in recognition of their queen, accepting her without question or reservation.

"You left! You ran away from home and stole your mother's sword and henshin stick."

" _My_ sword," Haruka corrected coldly, stepping closer to her father and the conflict that had been brewing between them for twenty-one years. " _My_ henshin stick. I am Sailor Uranus, the avatar of our goddess, and I am the rightful queen of this world."

"Not until I pass on the crown," Koshu retorted, surprised to find that he had to look _up_ into Haruka's furious emerald eyes. Her heels were only a couple of inches at most, but she towered over him, taller by far than Kazeko ever was.

Haruka grinned, waving her hand to summon her Space Sword, casually pointing it at her father's throat. The king's eyes widened in shock as he realized that his child could _actually_ kill him if she wanted to, and none of the women in the room would lift a finger to help him. They were _her_ War Queens, _her_ people, and it was _her_ world. "There will be no vote," Haruka announced, not even bothering to look at the War Queens as she uttered her first decree as the ruler of her world. "Koshu is stepping down from the throne voluntarily; he no longer rules this world. As Kazeko's daughter I claim the throne of Uranus, and I will take my crown the next time all four moons are in the sky, as is traditional." Her narrowed eyes dared Koshu to object, to move, but the fight was gone from his eyes. He knew that he could never challenge her for the planet, and he closed his hazel eyes in surrender.

"All hail Queen Haruka!" Laira started the cheer as she sank to her knees in obeisance, Miki following her lead. The Lesser War Queens and War Queens called Haruka's name from their table, overjoyed that their beloved princess was home at last, grateful to no longer have to worry about the fate of their world.

"They were always your people," Koshu whispered, Haruka letting her sword vanish as he opened his eyes. "Honestly, I don't know why they obeyed me for so long."

"Because Kazeko told them to, and they loved her. She needed you to make me strong, and you have succeeded. I am the most powerful Sailor Uranus of all time, and there is a darkness coming that I must defeat no matter the cost." She turned to the War Queens and stepped forward, emerald eyes meeting each of them in turn. "There is a great war coming and we must be ready. How much of the fleet is here?"

Murata Ayumi, the slender Ninth War Queen in charge of troop deployments, glanced at her computer as the rest of the War Queens returned to their seats. "Twenty percent of our fleet is here for the vote, but seventeen of the Lesser War Queens are on maneuvers throughout the rest of the system. The Lower Chiefs have ten percent of their fleets in the Asteroid Belt and twenty percent in the Kuiper Belt."

Haruka nodded. "Alright. Yasuda Mari and Endou Ado will stay here with the First Fleet and their own capital ships, Katayama Sayuri will take her flagship and three capital ships to Mercury, Murata Ayumi will take her flagship and seven battleships to Venus, Kimura Sanae will take her flagship and six capital ships to Mars, Nishina Yuri will take her flagship and the Third Fleet to Jupiter, Takeda Keiko will take her flagship and meet her father's three fleets among the Moons of Saturn, Inami Tomoko will take her flagship and her six daughters' fleets to Neptune, and Tahara Hiroko will take her flagship and the Second and Seventh Fleets to Pluto. Send all of the Lower Chiefs into the Kuiper Belt with the Fourth and Fifth Fleets and all of the Lesser War Queens into orbit around the Sun. I have a bad feeling about the sunspot activity reports coming from the Mercury Observatory. Taichen Laira, stop by Mercury and apprise the Royal Family of the situation and see if they can increase their surveillance of the Sun and send the reports back here. Ono Hikari, take your flagship, all of your children's capital ships, and the Sixth Fleet to the Moon. I want everyone to stay in contact with Ado and Mari at all times so that we can fight the darkness whenever I and the other senshi find it."

The War Queens nodded and started typing commands in their computers, sending messages to the ships they needed and rerouting other capital ships throughout the system. Uranus had the largest fleet by far of the three warrior planets, and although most of the other worlds would not welcome Uranian ships in their skies, the War Queens trusted that their princess would make sure that their people were accepted on the other worlds. Hikari looked up from her computer, waving her daughter to her side and handing her a handful of data crystals to distribute to the other ranked warriors who would command her ships. "What about your party on Neptune, Haruka?"

Mari gasped at Hikari's familiarity with the princess, reaching over to scold the younger warrior until Haruka's sly smile stopped her. "Ah, yes, my debut. You've already been invited, haven't you, Hikari? Good. I expect every War Queen to be on Neptune in two weeks' time for the Princess Michiru's birthday party. It's going to be quite the event."

Hikari chuckled and nodded. "We'll be there. Should we send out an announcement concerning your decision to take the crown in two weeks?"

Haruka chuckled and shook her head. "It'll be more interesting if you don't. Get the troops deployed and start planning for my Crowning."

* * *

"Setsuna, I think that your time knot might be related to my vision."

"I heard about that," the Plutonian replied. "You showed it to Queen Serenity and she called me in tears."

Michiru pulled her mirror out and placed it on the table before her, darkened teal eyes watching Setsuna across the table before flitting to her mother. "Would you like to see the vision that almost killed me? The vision that I showed our queen was not the same one that put me into a coma; it seems that every time I look into the mirror the vision is clearer than before."

"Show us," Setsuna whispered, garnet eyes intent on the reflective surface of Neptune's talisman. She had looked into it thousands of times over her lives, but no vision had worried her as much as this one did.

Asakaze looked over her shoulder at Shinrai, smiling sadly at her husband. "I think it's best if only we see this," she suggested gently. "If it truly is our end, I don't want you to be burdened by that knowledge without the power to do anything about it."

Shinrai nodded, understanding his wife's fear. As former senshi, the queens still had skills and abilities beyond anything their mortal husbands could ever possess, and she wanted to save him from seeing what would be his wife and daughter's death in a battle he could never fight. "We'll wait for you in the antechamber," he whispered, gesturing for the other kings to follow him. As soon as the doors closed once more, all of the women turned back to the mirror as Michiru ran her fingers gently across the silvery surface, every princess and queen dreading what they would see.

_Shadows crept through the ruined palace on the Moon, the wan light of the sun unable to pierce the darkness. Bodies were spread across the ground in haphazard piles, servants and commoners dead where the shadows had met them, without the chance to defend themselves. Two bodies lie crumpled on the stairs to the palace, blood flowing all the way down to the marble of the courtyard proper. One body was slender and young, dressed in white with two blonde pigtails, impaled on a long, two-handed sword. Her petite form partially covered a masculine body dressed in black and silver armor, his sightless blue eyes staring into the sky._

_The roof of the palace had collapsed in places, a gaping hole in the center revealing the large ballroom and the bodies entombed within. Hundreds of dead were hidden there, most of them torn apart by whatever had attacked, but one intact, lifeless form was still recognizable. Shousha's body was crumpled against a wall, blood covering the floor beneath her and a sword resting inches from her pale hand. Her eyes were staring into space but there was an oddly happy smile on her face, as if she had seen something wonderful in the moments before she died. Behind the palace, thousands upon thousands of dark shapes littered the ground, killed both by conventional weapons and the full fury of the senshi's powers. Most of the ground on one side of the palace was scorched, the dark bodies full of arrow holes and torn apart as if by a chain. The other side of the battlefield was covered in tiny dark circles where lightning had struck, many of the bodies frozen or entwined by thorny vines. In the center, tornadoes had thrown the dark beings into walls, the ground, and each other, alternately crushing them and tearing them apart. The ground was soaked and the grass wilted from the sea water that had been used to drown many of the enemies, though some of them had been gutted by a sword. The bodies of the senshi who had sacrificed themselves in a fruitless attempt to hold back the horde were crumpled among the carnage, broken and bloodstained from their last desperate battle._

_Further away from the palace, lying on a broken pillar, Queen Serenity breathed her last, her lavender eyes turned toward the lone survivor with love and trust. She smiled as she died, her advisors gone and the scepter that held the ginzuishou nowhere to be found. The watcher, Setsuna, screamed in fury and grief as she pulled the limp form into her arms, crying into Serenity's silver hair. Overhead, the Earth seemed to glow with a fierce golden light as a young, dark-haired girl appeared behind Sailor Pluto. "It's time," the girl whispered, the uniform of Sailor Saturn marking her petite form as she raised a glaive longer than she was tall. She swung it down, and everything vanished._

Setsuna jerked back from the mirror, grabbing her Time Key and vanishing in an instant. Shousha, the only queen who had seen her own body, covered her mouth with her hand in horror and jumped up from her chair, running out of the room toward the nearest bathing chamber. Princess Serenity leaned back into her chair, tears in her eyes as Minako stood to try and comfort her, everyone knowing without a shadow of a doubt that she had been the dead girl on the stairs. The senshi were less concerned by the vision of their own deaths, especially in battle, but their princess had not been prepared for such a bleak vision of the future.

Michiru reached out and pulled her mirror back to her in silence, wishing that her premonitions were not so strong or vivid, hoping that she and her fellow senshi could save the Silver Millennium from that fate. Unable to contain her own fear about the future, she brought the vision to the forefront of her mind and _sent_ it to Haruka along their bond, hoping that her wife had found something on Uranus to prevent such a gruesome end to their kingdom.

A swirl of wind filled the silence as a tall blonde appeared behind Michiru's chair, her gold-embroidered navy dress swirling as the wind vanished. "Michiru?"

The sea senshi stood and let Haruka embrace her, accepting the blonde's comfort as shock replaced the horror in the silence of the room. The rest of the women stood, staring at Haruka with wide eyes, Meika walking around the table with her head tilted to one side. "Haruka?"

Haruka looked up from her wife's aqua hair, emerald eyes widening as she realized that she had appeared in the center of a council chamber, and every queen and princess was staring at her. Oddly, Setsuna and Shousha seemed to be absent, but she had never planned on appearing before the queens as herself. "Um, yeah," she murmured, her husky voice still the same despite her feminine appearance.

"You really are a woman," Rei breathed, reaching forward to touch the blonde's silky dress. "I'm amazed."

"I'm glad I could impress you," the blonde replied dryly, glaring at the redhead when she reached for her breasts. "They're real," she growled, glancing over at the table as Amami gasped in shock.

"You're . . . Haruka, you were Rukaze? Michiru's _husband_?!"

The blonde nodded slowly as Serenity and the senshi gathered around her, facing the four queens standing beside the table. "Ono Hikari doesn't have a son named Rukaze," the Uranian admitted. "And yes, I'm legally married to Michiru." This was not how she planned on revealing her identity, especially not before finding her planet crystal. From the look on the queens' faces, it was clear that any chance Haruka had of preserving her disguise were fast fading, and with it her chance to save the Silver Millennium. If they told Shousha and Setsuna the truth now, there was no chance of returning the planet crystals to full power and stopping the vision that Michiru had sent to her so clearly. Worse than that, Setsuna was going to kill her.

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **AN2:** I know that the confrontation between Haruka and Koshu was neither violent nor bloody, but when faced with a room full of dozens of women who would support his daughter, I think any sane man would back down. Also, every War Queen is named after an actress from the musicals and some of them with a named planetary ancestry portrayed the senshi from that planet. Now you guys get to guess where Setsuna vanished off to in such a hurry and how I'm going to get Shousha away from the meeting without seeing and recognizing Haruka before Michiru's birthday party.
> 
> **Here is the full list of where names came from.** In the event that the name in the fic is not the same as the actor who inspired it, the fic character's name is noted. All mention to length of time and number of stages is in reference to the first run of the musicals from 1993-2005, not the recent reboot
> 
> Endou Ado – longest-running SeraMyu actress _by far_ with 739 stages, later becoming the sole choreographer; she played mostly background roles almost all of whom were villains
> 
> Kimura Sanae – first Sailor Uranus, second longest Uranus, eighth longest overall
> 
> Tahara Hiroko – fourth Sailor Neptune, second longest Neptune overall
> 
> Ono Hikari – first Sailor Star Fighter, fourth longest running SeraMyu actress, portrayed men and women pretty equally and she looked amazing when she played Vampiru (that's the image I used for her); she's one of my favorite Myu actresses which is why she is so close to Haruka here
> 
> Nishina Yuri – first Queen Beryl
> 
> Yasuda Mari – played Sailor Chi in some of the Stars-based musicals, and later Mandra-ko in _Chou Wakusei Death Vulcan no Fuuin_
> 
> Kawasaki (Ono) Miki – third longest overall performer, notable roles include Esmaurade, Kaorinite, and Kunzite
> 
> Takeda Keiko – first and longest running Saturn
> 
> Inami Tomoko – third longest Neptune, also portrayed Mistress 9
> 
> Murata Ayumi – second longest running Sailor Venus and my personal favorite
> 
> Katayama Sayuri – first Sailor Star Fighter and my favorite; loved her _I miss you_ with Anza
> 
> Mochizuki "Mochi" Yuuta (Ono Mochi who appears later) – second longest overall performer and longest Tuxedo Kamen; he also played King Endymion exclusively in a few musicals, Kunzite in one, and Count Dracul for the vampire musicals
> 
> Inayoshi (Ono) Takako & Ooyama (Ono) Chiho (both of whom appear later) – two Jupiter actresses whose first names I liked; in general I was underwhelmed by almost all of the Jupiters' singing ability
> 
> Takagi Nao (Nao the Conqueror) – second & longest-running Sailor Uranus, seventh longest SeraMyu actress (counting Ooyama Anza and Morino Ayako as tied for fifth), was paired with Yuuka for all but 2 of her musicals; she and Yuuka were such a good pair that the writers wrote a song just for them that no other UraNep pair was allowed to sing (Destined Couple from _Mugen Gakuen_ )
> 
> Asami Yuuka (Yuuka the Magnificent) – longest-running Sailor Neptune, ninth longest overall (only 1 stage less than Sanae), was paired with Nao the entire time she portrayed Neptune
> 
> Kawabe Chieko (Chieko the Strategist) – third longest running Sailor Mercury and my personal favorite; I love her version of _Tabidachi_ with Miyuki


	23. Deep Aqua Mirror

**Chapter 23: Deep Aqua Mirror**

* * *

_February 20, 8983_

* * *

Queen Serenity leaned forward on one arm, trying desperately to hide her boredom as one of her stewards introduced yet another petitioner, a scrawny man who worked in one of the shops near the Temple of Serenity. He bowed deeply and began to speak, telling her something about unusual activity among the Cult. Very few petitioners were allowed to see Tranquility anymore, and rumors had it that the god was no longer present in his greatest temple. He was out, searching, stirring his Cupids to some great task, and it had most of the merchants below the temple worried.

"What is he searching for?"

The man shrugged. "I don't know, Majesty, but he is not on the Moon. We think that he might have been visiting his new temple on Earth."

Serenity considered his words, wondering if his information was important. Perhaps the Cupids were involved in Michiru's vision of the end of the Silver Millennium, or maybe Tranquility was simply investing some time in a new temple. He had been the father of the Earth Royal Line ten thousand years earlier, so the primitive Earthlings had always held a special place in his heart. Before the queen could decide how to respond, a flash of garnet light filled the throne room. Serenity looked to the side, shocked to find the Queen of Pluto standing by her throne, garnet eyes wild with fear and something else, something much worse. Setsuna, wearing a long, tight black dress covered in tiny gems that resembled the one she had worn at the ball on Ganymede, grabbed Serenity's arm with her free hand, waving her Time Key as both of them vanished in another flash of garnet light.

The steward stared at his queen's empty throne for a moment, shrugging as he turned back to the gathered supplicants. "It seems that Her Majesty has been called away to a very important meeting with her senshi. Please excuse the haste of her departure and all of you will be first in line tomorrow when the throne opens for supplicants."

Serenity pulled away from Setsuna as they appeared in her bed chambers, the dark queen leaning her staff against the wall and staring out the window in silence at the Earth hanging low in the sky. "Aren't you at a meeting on Titan right now?"

"I was," Setsuna whispered, her voice choked with what sounded like tears. Concerned, Serenity stepped forward and touched Setsuna's shoulder, lavender eyes widening in shock as the dark queen spun in her arms and embraced her, tears falling on her shoulders as a curtain of dark green hair fell over her arms. "Ser . . . her vision. It was terrible. I saw everyone dead . . . Serenity dead! Then I saw you dead and me leaning over your body . . . and then Sailor Saturn lowered her scythe. Ser, it's really going to happen. Everything is going to end and you're going to die!"

Serenity backed toward her bed, sitting down and pulling the sobbing Plutonian into her lap. She had never seen Setsuna so defeated, so hysterical, and she had no idea how to deal with the dark queen's desperation. "Se, you said that you were going to stop it with the other senshi. What changed in one week that frightened you so?"

"I have been Sailor Pluto through fifteen incarnations over the last ten thousand years and I have never seen a vision so clear and detailed, especially from such a young Sailor Neptune. Ser, what am I going to do?"

"You'll find a way," Serenity whispered, running her fingers through Setsuna's long green hair, soothing her like she had years ago, when she found out that she was pregnant and Setsuna decided that the king of the moon persona had to die. It was the last time the Plutonian had cried in Serenity's arms. "You have to go back to your meeting, Se. You can't just teleport halfway across the solar system in the middle of a Full Council Meeting; the others must be worried about you."

"I don't care," Setsuna whispered, raising her head from Serenity's shoulder. Teary garnet eyes met concerned lavender, and Serenity's arms tightened around the older woman. Setsuna's lips met hers in a passionate kiss, the dark queen pushing her back onto the bed as her hands began to wander across the queen's body. Serenity gasped something incoherent as she tried to push Setsuna off, moaning in surrender as the taller woman's knee landed between her legs.

_Setsuna, we can't!_

_I don't care,_ she hissed back across the mental link they shared, the link that had been all but dead for the past fourteen years. _By the gods, I saw you dead. I saw me, holding your body. I just need some reassurance that you are alive._ Setsuna frantically pulled on the top of Serenity's sleeveless dress, sliding it off her lover's slender body and tossing it carelessly to the floor while her hands reacquainted themselves with the queen's breasts. _It's been so long._

Serenity moaned as Setsuna broke their kiss, moving down to suck a nipple into her mouth. "Se . . . Se I want you so much, but don't you realize how hard this is going to make everything?"

"Nothing can be harder than staying away from you for fourteen years."

Serenity raised her head and cupped Setsuna's cheek in her hand, smiling as the woman leaned over her again. "I love you."

"I know," Setsuna whispered. "I love you, too."

* * *

"What's going on? Haruka? Rukaze? What are you talking about?"

The Uranian princess turned back to the table, facing the Queen of Saturn and shrugging. Meika pulled her fellow queens into a huddle near the table, letting her eyes meet each woman in turn before she began to speak. "This is Haruka, the princess of Uranus, and she has been visiting our planets with the other senshi, pretending to be the son of one of the War Queens. Rukaze is the name she was using. She's married to Michiru."

"Two women aren't allowed to wed," Yumemi argued, dark eyes wide as she absorbed Meika's information. Asakaze and Rikuriko exchanged a heavy glance, both of them having accepted their daughters' decisions, both of them turning to Amami and tilting their heads, silently encouraging her to accept her daughter's choice, as well.

"Rei and Minako have been lovers for months," Rikuriko replied. "That's why she won her henshin stick from me, because I told them that they couldn't be together. Makoto and Ami are lovers, too, and just as determined to be together as our daughters are. I don't think there's any point in fighting them on this."

"What about the Ancient Law?"

"That doesn't really matter, Yumemi." Meika, thinking back to her conversation with Makoto, reached down and gently took Amami's hand in hers before she continued. "Three thousand years ago the senshi married each other frequently, and the world never ended. Our daughters have studied the prophecies and they are certain that there is no danger to the Silver Millennium if they were to wed. Haruka and Michiru are married, and nothing has happened yet. We can't argue with their decisions, since they are the current senshi, and I don't think we should try to stand in the way of their happiness."

Amami glanced over her shoulder at her daughter, the petite woman standing inside the protective circle of Makoto's arms, completely at ease with the Jovian. She smiled at the scene, remembering her own youth with Meika and the love they still shared. The Queen of Mercury smiled as she turned back to the group, acceptance in her ice blue eyes as she gently squeezed her lover's hand. "I don't think we should tell Shousha."

"Or Setsuna," Asakaze added. "She would never condone their marriage." The other four queens nodded, accepting Asakaze's decision, even Yumemi reluctantly bowing her head. Asakaze turned around and led the queens back to the group of senshi, smiling gently at the waiting princesses. "Well, Haruka; welcome to the Full Council meeting. We've decided not to tell Shousha and Setsuna about you, but I'm sure one of them will return shortly and figure it out on their own."

Michiru glanced up at her wife, reaching up to brush a stray strand of blonde hair away from Haruka's intense emerald eyes. "Wearing a dress and with your hair like that . . . you don't really look like the same person, Ruka. But your eyes give you away. Can you change their color?"

"My eyes are always green."

"Not when you're angry," Rei replied, crossing her arms over her chest. "They turn this stormy blue color."

"When you're scared or surprised they go grey," Serenity offered.

"When you're embarrassed they turn a kind of blue green color that's much lighter than your normal shade," Makoto added, Ami nodding beside her.

"When your lust overwhelms your judgment, they turn gold." Haruka glared at Michiru, but the siren just giggled. "It's true."

"How is it that I didn't know these things?"

"I didn't know that my eyes turn a sapphire blue until you told me. I'll get a mirror in my bedroom so that you can see your eyes while I'm making love to you. It's really the most beautiful shade of gold."

Haruka couldn't hide her blush at Michiru's words, the other princesses mumbling and looking away as Serenity coughed to cover her own embarrassment. "Maybe you can make your eyes change color by tapping into one of those emotions," the Moon Princess suggested.

"Not lust," Asakaze amended dryly, pink eyes dancing with amusement as the blonde's blush only darkened. "I'm not sure the rest of the table could handle a horny Uranian."

Michiru's teal eyes widened as Haruka's memory of Uranus kissing her flew across their bond at the Venusian's words, followed an instant later by the shock and embarrassment her wife had felt at the time. "She did _what_?!"

The women turned to Michiru in confusion, having never heard the gentle senshi raise her voice at all, a rainbow of eyes watching Haruka as she hung her head in shame and slowly backed away from her wife's fury. "I didn't encourage her. She just jumped me."

"Haruka! What did you do to entice Uranus to _kiss_ you?!"

"Nothing! I swear! Michi, we were talking about the end of the world, I promise! And I wish _you_ luck in preventing a goddess from doing _anything_ she wants!"

Michiru sighed and wrapped her arms around Haruka again, resting her aqua head on her wife's breasts as her anger evaporated. "You're right. I'm not angry at you, my love. I would be angry at her, but I know you too well to think that your patron goddess considered her actions, even for a second, before jumping you."

Minako sighed dramatically and spun around as the confrontation ended, returning to her seat. "Great. _I'm_ the avatar of love and beauty and the woman who dresses like a _man_ gets a kiss from a goddess before me! How completely unfair!"

Rei took her own seat and leaned over to her soul mate, amethyst eyes narrowed. "If Aphrodite ever dared to touch you, I would rip her hair out by the roots," the Martian hissed, her voice dark and completely serious. Minako reached out and caressed her lover's cheek gently, accepting her overprotective nature with that simple gesture.

"Back to the matter at hand," Makoto began, trying to banish the image of a Rei versus Aphrodite cat fight from her mind, "try changing your eye color, Haruka."

The blonde sighed and narrowed her eyes in concentration, bringing to mind the fury she had felt when Michiru told her that Kazan would have been her husband if Haruka never landed on Triton. Her eyes darkened to a stormy blue-grey color, removing all lingering resemblances to Rukaze. "How's that?"

"Good. Try not to make eye contact with Shousha very much. Has Setsuna seen you since Serenity's Presentation?"

Haruka nodded, staring at her hands thoughtfully. "She's the one who gave my talisman and sent me out into the Silver Millennium. She hasn't seen Rukaze, however, and as long as everyone refers to me as Haruka, my secret should be safe."

Serenity returned to the table, her senshi following her as Haruka assumed her seat on the senshi side of the table. "I know why Shousha ran out, but where did Setsuna vanish off to? It's not like her to leave a meeting, no matter how disturbing that vision was."

Michiru picked up her mirror again at Yumemi's observation, teal eyes glaring at the silver surface. "I wonder if I can use this to see her." She concentrated on her fellow senshi, remembering the shock in those garnet eyes an instant before Pluto vanished, willing the mirror to show her the present. There was some resistance, but Michiru had gotten used to fighting to force her visions to obey her, so she pushed through that wall of darkness. Michiru felt a flash of power flow through her form, washing over her like cool waves across a beach, and the mirror's surface suddenly changed. She stared at her talisman for only a second before squeaking in shock, dropping the mirror onto the table once more.

"What?" Haruka, the only one sitting beside the aquanette, leaned over to see what had shocked her wife, chuckling at the sight that met her eyes. "Way to go, Setsuna."

"That is _not_ something we should be watching! It's private." Michiru reached for her mirror to break the link, but Makoto's callused fingers snatched the talisman away before she could touch it.

"How private?" The Jovian looked into the mirror, Rei and Minako leaning closer in an effort to distinguish the image. All three women nodded in approval, Minako tilting the mirror so Ami could see.

The Mercurian's face turned a color strikingly similar to Rei's hair, Ami covering her mouth with her hand in something between shock and embarrassment. "We should _not_ be watching that," she whispered.

"Shouldn't be watching what?" Serenity's innocent blue eyes strained to see over the rim of the mirror, the five queens on the other side of the table also leaning forward curiously.

"You can't see it," Haruka replied, reaching for the mirror. "You're far too young."

"Haruka! Don't talk to me like I'm a child. I demand to see that mirror." Minako plucked the talisman from Makoto's fingers, nervously turning it toward her princess. Serenity's eyes widened at the image of a very naked Queen of Pluto leaning over her equally naked mother, Setsuna's hand somewhere between Serenity's legs while her long green hair covered both of them like a veil. Serenity arched her back, lavender eyes wide as she screamed something, the princess blushing and looking away. "Oh. I think I'm too young to see that."

Asakaze reached out and turned the mirror toward the queen side of the table, all five women nodding in approval. They were too old to bother with embarrassment, though none of them had expected to see their fellow senshi in a bed with their queen. "Setsuna certainly has good taste," Yumemi observed, the other queens nodding. Michiru leaned over the table and grabbed her talisman, banishing the image as the blush finally faded from her cheeks.

"I don't think I'll ever look in on Setsuna again," the senshi of the seas murmured.

"You know," Asakaze began, breaking the silence that had suffocated the room, "I heard a rumor once that Setsuna and Serenity were an item before the last Queen Serenity died. It seems that the rumors were true."

"Why would Setsuna leave this meeting just to go to the Moon and jump the queen?"

"Because of the vision I showed her," Michiru replied, surprised that her wife did not understand. "She saw Queen Serenity's death; worse, she saw that she had survived when everyone else died. If that had been you and me, what would you have done?"

"I would make sure that you're still alive in the most intimate way possible," Haruka replied without hesitation, understanding dawning in her blue-grey eyes. "Oh, I see. Do you think she'll return to the meeting?"

"By Zeus, I hope not," Makoto replied. "I don't know if I can look her in the eye without blushing ever again. She's going to know that we know."

"If she's still secretly Serenity's lover, doesn't the Ancient Law hurt her as much as it hurts us? Wouldn't she be happy to see it gone?"

"I'm not sure, Ami, but we'll have to worry about that later. For now, we might as well continue the meeting without them. Haruka, you need to have a look at this time knot." Minako pushed her copy of the image down the length of the table to the other blonde, hoping that the warrior would have a suggestion on how they could stop the coming darkness.

* * *

"Se?"

"Hmm?"

"When I asked you to stay after I saw Michiru's vision, you refused."

"I know. I shouldn't have. I understand now the turbulence in your soul that led you to call me. After what I saw . . . I just had to touch you, to make sure that you were still here and still okay." Setsuna ran her fingers through Serenity's unbound silver hair, amazed at the soft, silky strands. She let her fingers dance across her lover's breasts again, offering a gentle squeeze and smiling as the queen gasped and leaned into her touch. "You're still as beautiful as I remember."

"You're still as wild as I remember," Serenity replied, reaching up to wrap her arms around Setsuna's waist. "Your hair is all tangled."

"I don't know why yours isn't." Setsuna leaned over the queen, kissing her gently before running her hand down to Serenity's thigh. "I guess I haven't been trying hard enough."

"Se! Se, you have to go back to your meeting."

The Plutonian rolled her eyes as she pushed herself up on one arm, slipping the fingers of her free hand into her lover. "Are you sure about that?"

"Se! You can't . . . aaah . . . you can't use sex to get what you want."

"I can if I'm good at it," the older woman retorted, wrapping her lips around one of the smaller woman's nipples as she thrust into the queen. Serenity arched into her lover as a finger danced across her clit, moaning as she pulled Setsuna closer. "See?"

"You can stay for a little longer," Serenity whispered, smirking. "Cocky bitch."

* * *

Shousha leaned against the mirror in the washroom, unable to erase the image of her own death from her mind. Tears still leaked from her teal eyes, but she was too tired to cry anymore. After emptying the contents of her stomach, she had gone to the sink to clean her face, but her own empty eyes stared back at her from the glass, mocking her. She was going to die, alone, and a failure to her queen and princess. She was going to die as she lived, alone, unloved, and useless.

_You aren't!_

Shousha jerked as the words echoed in her mind, glancing around the small room for the owner of that achingly familiar voice. "Kazeko?"

_You aren't unloved, and you are never alone._

"Kazeko," Shousha breathed, surprised to find that she had any tears left to cry. "I miss you so much. Why did you leave me?"

_I had to. I'm sorry._

"Minako said that you never loved me and that's why you left. Kazeko . . . is she right?"

Shousha felt the ghost of a kiss on her brow, in the same spot that Kazeko would kiss her to calm her when they were younger, and the Neptunian smiled. _Of course not. She was proving a point. You must let your hatred for my daughter go, Shousha. If you cannot forgive her, then I can never appear before you again. Please, my dearest love, let your anger go. Give her the love I never could._

Shousha sank to the floor, not caring that she might wrinkle her dress, letting her head fall into her hands in defeat. "I don't know if I'm strong enough to forgive."

_I believe in you._ Shousha felt Kazeko's presence fade, leaving her alone in the cold washroom once more. She pushed herself to her feet and turned back to the mirror, taking a hand towel and wiping the last of her tears from her face. She checked her dress and makeup, fixing her jewelry and hair before turning to the door. Maybe she could be strong, if it meant that she would one day see Kazeko again.

* * *

Haruka looked up from her examination of the time knot, freezing as the Space Sword whispered something in her mind, her eyes flashing gold as she grunted in pain. Her face paled and she gripped the edge of the table as _something_ drained her power for a moment, leaving her gasping for breath and visibly shaking.

"Haruka!"

"I'm okay," the blonde whispered, closing her eyes as she mustered what remained of her strength, grateful for Michiru's hand on her shoulder keeping her upright. "I thought you said you didn't have the strength to leave the sword."

_I don't. I had to borrow some of yours._

Haruka growled something rude in Uranian, sensing her mother's apology while the other women in the room stared at her in confusion. "What was so damn important that you felt the need to drain me dry?"

_I had to talk to Shousha. Don't be angry at me, Haruka; it was for a good cause. She's on her way back._

Haruka sighed and raised her head, forcing her eyes to change back into the stormy blue color she had been holding for the past few minutes. "My mother's soul is bound to my talisman, and she thought it would be a good idea to pop out for a visit to Shousha."

"Kazeko's soul is in your talisman?"

Haruka shrugged, leaning back in her chair as she felt her energy slowly returning. "I don't know why or how, Meika. She just is. I haven't been able to sense her or talk to her since the Moon, but she apparently felt that she needed to talk to Shousha today."

Meika opened her mouth to ask about the former Uranian queen again, freezing when the doors to the chamber opened, Shousha returning to the meeting at last. The Neptunian stood in the doorway for a moment, teal eyes narrowing as she glared at Haruka's back, but she returned to her chair in silence as the queens watched her and the senshi tried desperately to ignore her. Shousha glanced at Setsuna's empty seat beside her, raising one eyebrow. "She isn't back yet?" Her voice was calm and steady, as if she hadn't run out of the room in horror or sobbed in the washroom for almost half an hour.

"No, Mother," Michiru replied, pointing at a section of the time knot while Haruka typed something on the computer embedded in her part of the table. "We've been comparing the time knot to my vision while you were gone."

"When did she get here?" Shousha turned her gaze to Haruka, the darkness in her voice not quite as filled with hatred as it had been when she was arguing with Minako, but her dislike for the young Uranian was still clear.

"Just after you left," Michiru replied, the chill in her voice warning her mother to leave the blonde alone.

Shousha felt Yumemi's hand on her arm, silently begging her to return to the matter at hand and ignore the Uranian's presence, but she ignored the warning. She looked at Haruka, Kazeko's daughter, for the first time in fourteen years, and she found that she was disappointed. The blonde's short blonde hair was shades darker and significantly shorter than her mother's golden locks had been, and she was clearly either very tired or very weak, leaning on her arm and trembling almost imperceptibly. Her eyes were not the intense, brilliant emerald that Kazeko's had been, but a stormy blue-grey color, a washed-out shade that hardly suited the future queen of Uranus. Kazeko had died to create a strong daughter, a powerful senshi, but the child in front of her did not resemble that description at all. Shousha had seen an ounce of that strength fourteen years earlier at the Presentation of Serenity, but this woman was nothing like the girl who had bravely promised to protect her newborn princess in front of the entire court.

"Why are you here? I thought you were off gallivanting through the solar system."

Michiru felt Haruka tense at the question, knowing that Shousha had not identified her yet, but her very voice could give her away. Without looking up from her computer, Haruka adopted the most feminine voice she could manage, keeping her words soft and emotionless. "Setsuna told me to be here today when she handed me my henshin stick and talisman a month ago."

"Setsuna? You didn't run away on your own?"

Haruka did look up then, careful to keep her eyes a stormy blue color as she tilted her head to the side. "Why would I do that and leave my people in the hands of a man who could never rule them properly?" She pulled the time knot back to her part of the table, returning her attention to the image as she broke eye contact with the queen. "Setsuna told me to leave until the meeting. I'll be returning to my world soon."

"Now that your curiosity is satisfied, can we return to the meeting?" Asakaze's words were hard, like they had been when she was the commander of the Inner Senshi, with a hint of irritation in her tone. Shousha sighed and nodded, turning back to the image of the time knot floating above the table before her.

"So, what have you decided to do about that vision?"

Haruka glanced at Minako, gesturing for her to explain their plan, preferably with as few details as possible. "Well, we found a book of ancient prophecies while we were out on one of our training missions, and we think that there is a forgotten power that can help us defeat this darkness that is calling Sailor Saturn."

"What prophecies?"

"We think that they are ten thousand years old," Ami replied, fiddling with the data crystal inside the pouch beside her planet crystal. Were they going to show the queens the prophecies? Would that revelation endanger their mission to collect and activate the Planet Crystals? She had to trust that Minako and Haruka knew what they were doing. "Most of them were vague but there was one that seemed similar to Michiru's vision."

"This darkness . . . it's related to the sun, somehow," Haruka murmured, watching as a report from Hikari scrolled across her computer screen. "There has been a noticeable increase in sunspot activity over the last twenty-one years, even though the sun normally completes a full cycle in only eleven years."

"The Sun? Is it Calling?"

"It seems plausible," Haruka replied, glancing sideways at Ami's question.

Ami waved her hand to summon her Mercury Computer, tapping into the Mercury Weather Monitoring System and staring at the results of her query. "Wow. Yes, the solar wind has been increasing steadily for two decades as the number of sunspots have grown to unheard-of numbers."

"What does that mean for us?" Rikuriko, queen of a planet of war, had never studied the sun and had no idea what effects solar wind and sunspots would have on the worlds of the Silver Millennium.

Ami glanced up from her computer, concern in her sapphire eyes. She looked at her mother first, seeing that Amami understood the coming disaster, silently begging the older woman to answer. Amami sighed and leaned forward, scratching the back of her neck nervously. "When there are very few sunspots for an extended period of time, the amount of solar radiation is decreased and the planets experience small ice ages. There was an extended period of solar quiescence hundreds of years ago that caused an ice age on Earth and stressed the force field generators on the other three inner worlds. When there are a very large number of sunspots, radiation from the sun and solar wind increase, warming the planets more than usual and tearing at their magnetic fields. If this trend continues, not only will our technology on the inner planets fail to block the radiation, but the magnetic fields of our worlds and moons could be torn away. We might survive on the moons of the outer planets, but Mercury, Venus, Earth, the Moon, and probably Mars would be destroyed."

"How long do we have?"

"Years," Ami replied, running a few quick calculations in her head. "Probably decades. The sun should settle down on its own in less than thirty years if this is a normal extended period of solar activity. If this is caused by some evil force . . . then I suppose we have until the end of this time knot."

A somber silence spread across the table, the senshi realizing that they were no closer to defeating the darkness than they had been before, each of them silently wishing that Setsuna would return and offer _any_ answers.

The door to the chamber swung open, revealing a young servant girl, the child clearly intimidated by the presence of so many queens and princesses. Two guards dressed in the livery of Triton Palace escorted her across the room to Shousha's side, the queen accepting a data pad from the servant. "What's this?"

"A transmission just arrived for you, Majesty," the servant replied, her voice soft.

Shousha touched the edge of the data pad to activate it, watching as a message from her palace scrolled across the screen. Her teal eyes widened at the words, having to read it for a second time to realize that it wasn't a trick. "How many ships?"

"Hundreds," one of the guards replied. "There seems to be one flagship and at least six capital ships, each with at least ten battleships in attendance and each battleship carries up to three dozen fighters. We don't know how many fighters each capital ship can carry, but our best estimate is somewhere near two hundred."

"I have to go at once. Prepare my ship. Have they contacted us yet?"

"No, Majesty. They won't reply to our hails, either. We don't have enough ships to fight a force of that magnitude."

Shousha nodded as she stood, finally remembering the other women in the room. "If Setsuna returns, please tell her that I am sorry I have to leave so abruptly, but a rather large _Uranian_ fleet has just appeared above Triton and I need to go handle the situation." She glared at Haruka, accusing the princess's absence for the warships gathering around her world, but the blonde never raised her head, clearly unconcerned with the fate of her planet's cosmic neighbor. Grumbling something in her native tongue, the blue-haired queen strode out of the chamber, two guards and a trembling servant at her heels.

As soon as the door closed, Haruka looked up guiltily and smiled at the Queen of Saturn. "Yumemi, does this computer have interplanetary communications capability?"

"Yes; why?"

"It's entirely possible that I left Jupiter this morning and went to see Ono Hikari about the political situation on Uranus. She might have told me to speak with my goddess, who might have given me some very interesting information and useful advice, and I might have gone to the War Council meeting this morning to depose my father."

"Koshu is no longer the king of Uranus?"

"Um, no, Meika, he isn't. The War Queens were going to vote to _dybhaiht_ him today—that word means both behead and depose, and I'm still not sure which meaning Takeda Keiko _intended_ when she sent the notice—so I appeared in the room and told him to step down. I have formally announced my intention to claim the throne of Uranus, and I will be crowned two days after Michiru's birthday when the four moons are in the sky."

"What does that have to do with warships around Neptune?"

"Well, Michiru's distress pulled me out of a very important meeting where I was busy reassigning my entire fleet to posts above every planet in this solar system, in close orbit around the sun, in the asteroid belt, and in the Kuiper Belt. I might not have gotten around to sending messages to every palace warning them about the hundreds of ships that would shortly appear in their skies."

"Is that why you are dressed like that?" Michiru reached over and gently touched the silky material of Haruka's dress, her fingers dancing across her wife's breast as mischief sparkled in the depths of her sapphire eyes.

"Yes," Haruka replied, reaching up to grab her wife's hand reprovingly, stormy blue eyes giving way to emerald shot through with gold. "I dress like a man because I feel like it, but sometimes I do wear dresses. For an appearance before the War Queen Council, I asked Hikari for suitable feminine attire." She leaned forward and kissed Michiru's nose, both of them completely oblivious to queens staring at them across the table and the princesses desperately looking anywhere else. "Your eyes are blue."

"Yours are gold," Michiru purred, leaning forward into the hand caressing her cheek.

"Guys, cool the hormones please." Minako leaned forward and glared at the blonde sitting at the other end of the table, one pale eyebrow raised. "We still have a meeting to finish. I suggest you call the palaces and tell them about the warships you are sending, then we need to discuss your meeting with your goddess."

Haruka sighed and leaned back, returning to her computer. The five queens sitting across from her leaned over their own computers, visibly disappointed that the show was over, sending messages to warn their palaces to expect Uranian warships. Haruka opened a line to the Moon Palace, telling them to expect a fleet of ships commanded by Ono Hikari by the end of the day, adding the electronic signature of her palace before closing the communication. She requested a status update from the War Queen Council, sighing as numbers scrolled across her screen. "It looks like nearly half of the Lower Chiefs are requesting major repairs for their ships that were stationed in the Kuiper Belt. Yumemi, are any of your space docks open at the moment?"

"How many bays do you need?"

"Enough for a hundred or so midsized warships. Probably some of their fighters, too, but nothing large."

Yumemi shrugged as she opened a query, tapping her fingers thoughtfully. "It seems that the shipyards of Rhea are empty right now. They can accommodate all of your ships." She glanced up from her computer, one eyebrow raised. "If you sent a fleet to every planet, who is commanding them?"

"The War Queens."

"Who did you send here?"

Haruka bowed her head, running her fingers through her blonde hair. "There's a distinct possibility that I told Takeda Keiko to bring her flagship here and take command of her father's fleet."

"Why would you do that to me? Her father is a perpetual thorn in my side despite our close relationship."

"Yes, well, I needed the rest of my fleets to guard the other planets. You'll like Keiko; she's like her father but significantly more bloodthirsty."

"Great," Yumemi replied dryly.

"Haruka, are you done sending your messages?" The Uranian nodded, closing the communications once more. "Good. What did Uranus say to you?"

Rei glanced up eagerly at Minako's question, leaning forward and staring down the length of the table, amethyst eyes sparkling. "Before or after the kiss?"

Haruka's head shot up, grey eyes wide in shock as Michiru's anger pulsed along their bond for just a moment. "Are you trying to get me killed?" Rei chuckled and sat back down, ignoring Minako's irritated gaze. Haruka turned to Michiru, shame in her pale eyes, and the Neptunian smiled, kissing the scar on her wife's palm.

"Tell us what your goddess said."

* * *

Setsuna rolled over and pulled Serenity into her arms, ignoring the slender woman's tired protests. She wrapped one strong arm around her lover's waist, burying her face in the silver hair she had missed so much. "Did I wear you out?"

Serenity grinned and glanced over her shoulder, lavender eyes shining in the dim light. "Perhaps. Are you feeling better?"

Setsuna nodded, cupping one of Serenity's breasts in her free hand, absently playing with her nipple. "Yeah, I am. The vision still bothers me, but I know that we can prevent it. I won't let you die, Ser."

"I know you won't, my only love." She rolled over to face her lover, dislodging the hand caressing her breast, and stared up into Setsuna's garnet eyes. "I can never let you go again. Not after this. I'm not entirely sure I can let you out of this bed."

Setsuna grinned and pushed herself back onto her arms, leaning over Serenity again. Just before she leaned down to claim her lover's lips, a dark spot outside the window caught her attention. Curious, she looked up, eyes widening in shock. "Ser, when did you order a giant fleet?"

"What?" Serenity leaned up and looked out her window, slipping out of the bed and staring at the sky. "Setsuna, what kind of ships are those?"

Setsuna grabbed her black dress the floor, slipping it over her head and running her fingers through her tangled hair before grabbing the white dress from the foot of the bed and handing it to her queen. "Those look like Uranian ships."

"Why would Uranus send a fleet here?"

"I don't know, but I have a feeling that I need to return to the council meeting on Titan. You need to get out there and deal with those ships."

Serenity slipped into her dress, adjusting the silky fabric before walking over to her vanity and her brush. She returned her hair to its usual style, pulling Setsuna into the chair in front of the mirror so she could brush her lover's dark green hair. As soon as they were both presentable, Setsuna grabbed her Time Key with one hand and Serenity's arm with the other, both of them vanishing in a flash of garnet light.


	24. Garnet Orb

**Chapter 24: Garnet Orb**

* * *

_February 20, 8983_

* * *

"Tell us what your goddess said."

Haruka leaned back in her chair, staring at the ceiling as she let her meeting with the blonde goddess replay in her mind. There was only truly one part of her conversation with Uranus that was important to all of the senshi. "She said that I am her last senshi."

"What?!"

"So the Silver Millennium is truly doomed."

"Is there nothing we can do?"

Haruka waved her hand, requesting silence. Minako, Rei, and Makoto leaned forward, hoping that the blonde had answers for their questions. "She told me that I am the most powerful senshi of her lineage and that after I am gone, she'll never need another. I don't understand what she means, but she did say that the Silver Millennium is not necessarily going to end because I am the last Sailor Uranus. She said there are two paths. One will lead to the destruction of everything we know and the shattering of the Planet Crystals." The four Inner Senshi reached into the pouches at their waist, each of them staring into the depths of the dark crystals they had already sacrificed so much to find. Were they destined to lose, destroying these precious stones? "The other path will lead to a glorious future where my children will shine as golden lights in the darkness."

"Your children? Yours specifically?"

Haruka nodded and turned to Minako. "Uranus said that one of my children will guard the dreams of the past, and the other will guard the souls of the future. That was all she would say, except that my first daughter will not be the heir to my power, but she will have a destiny greater than anything we can understand."

"Did she say anything about the planet crystals? Did she tell you how to unlock them?" Ami had her computer out again, clearly hoping that the Goddess of the Skies had offered more information beyond her cryptic words about Haruka's strength and her children.

"You four already know that your past incarnations were the last senshi to carry the planet crystals. Uranus said that our souls are traveling through time together, so I was Queen Nao the Conqueror and Michiru was Queen Yuuka the Magnificent. Uranus said that Nao is the one who told the other senshi that they had to seal the planet crystals as Sailor Pluto ordered, and she was also the only one who knew _how_."

"Does that mean that you know how to reverse it?"

Haruka shook her head, sinking back into her seat with a sigh. "Uranus said that I was the only one who could figure it out. She didn't tell me if I should, either, only that it will be my choice alone. Something she said, though . . . it gave me an idea. When we go to Uranus, I will try to connect with Nao's spirit and see if I can find the answer."

Minako shrugged. "I suppose that our plan will remain the same for now, then. It's a little strange that so much is resting on you, Haruka."

"If it wasn't for her interference in that fight on Mars, we wouldn't be together," Rei pointed out. "And her thread in that time knot thing is the most prominent."

"Speaking of the time knot, I think I understand the origination point." Haruka pulled the image in front of her once more, pointing at the golden thread that represented herself.

A flash of garnet light interrupted the blonde, all eyes turning to the chair reserved for the Queen of Pluto as Setsuna nonchalantly returned to her seat. Michiru, Ami, and Serenity blushed and looked away, unwilling to chance meeting the dark queen's gaze, but Setsuna was staring at Haruka in shock and barely noticed the others. "You came."

"I said I would," the Uranian retorted, crossing her arms over her chest. Feeling the swell of breasts that were usually bound, Haruka glanced down, uncrossing her arms when she realized that the action just emphasized her bosom. Michiru giggled at the action, turning away from her wife's irritated gaze. "I had some things to take care of first."

"Yes, I did notice the fleet massing above the Moon."

"It's necessary for my fleets to protect the rest of the solar system from the darkness in your time knot and Michiru's vision. The Jovian and Martian fleets are welcome to join in the defense, but Uranus will lead as we always do."

"Do you think such a measure will help?"

Haruka tilted her head to one side in disbelief. "Do you think not doing anything is going to help more? I have resources at my disposal, and I have done something. It's better than my people rebelling and tearing this solar system apart to find me."

Setsuna sighed and ran her fingers through her hair, forced to admit that sending the young blonde warrior away from Uranus with a crisis brewing might not have been the best decision. "I shouldn't have sent you away. Koshu might have offered you the crown if you stayed."

"No, he never would," Haruka replied, a new power in her vibrant emerald eyes that Setsuna had not seen before. On Miranda, Haruka had been physically strong, but her heart had been weak, desperate for attention and love from _anyone_ , so Setsuna had told her to leave. When she told Kazeko to do the same, so many decades ago, the blonde had returned stronger, happier, and ready to be queen. Haruka . . . her strength was beyond that. She looked strong enough to be queen, confident enough to lead the senshi against any darkness, and powerful enough to save the Silver Millennium. She had a light in her eyes that Setsuna had not seen in thousands of years, not since . . . not since Uranus had last favored one of her senshi with a kiss.

Setsuna's eyes widened as she stared at Haruka, shaking her head imperceptibly. "She kissed you. Uranus . . . she hasn't done that since Nao."

Haruka felt Michiru contain her jealous reaction to the words, both of them knowing that they could never reveal their relationship to the dark queen of Pluto. "Why is this damn kiss so important?! I didn't ask for it and I don't understand why it matters. I visited her this morning to ask for advice and she jumped me!"

"That's how Uranus gives her avatars some of her power. She kisses them. She gave you something today, something she hasn't offered in thousands of years. Uranus has many powers she could have given to you, and there's no way to know what it was until you are able to use it."

Haruka raised her fingers to her lips, thoughtful eyes losing focus for a moment. "You say that she kissed Nao? Whatever power she gave to my predecessor, she might have given to me, too. Maybe it's enough to save the Silver Millennium from that vision."

Setsuna turned her head to the side at the reminder of the vision that had sent her crying to the Moon and Serenity's arms. Her hand, resting on the table, clenched into a fist as she struggled to control her emotions. It had never been so hard before to maintain her calm, aloof façade, not even the day she left her lover and newborn child alone on the Moon. Princess Serenity stared at the dark queen across the length of the table, pale blue eyes examining Setsuna for a moment before she decided to speak. "Do you love my mother, Setsuna?"

All eyes turned to the Plutonian as she looked up in shock, garnet eyes meeting the gentle blue ones of her lover's child. She had no idea what prompted the question or why every queen and princess was watching her with such anticipation, but she knew that Serenity deserved an answer. "Yes, I love her."

"Then why have you left her alone to cry herself to sleep for fourteen years?"

Setsuna actually stopped breathing for a moment, the icy shock filling her body almost enough to end her mortal existence. The secret had lived in silence for fourteen years, but this blonde child was threatening the safety of the entire Silver Millennium with her question. She had no idea the danger she was bringing upon them with her words. "I had to, Serenity. I had to leave her. Being with her . . . it broke the ultimate taboo and I had to leave or the Silver Millennium would be destroyed."

"Then why did you go back?"

Now she understood. Setsuna blushed, spinning to face her fellow Outer Senshi as Michiru glanced down at her mirror in embarrassment, admission in her action. "You were able to look in on us? How? Michiru . . . you should never have been able to force that mirror to show me."

"Who are you that you are protected from Neptune's mirror?" Minako's voice banished the last of the blush from Setsuna's cheeks, her voice demanding an answer.

"I can't tell you."

Michiru reached for her mirror, teal eyes determined. "I can find out."

"No!" Setsuna stood from her chair and reached across the table to grab Michiru's wrist, preventing her from touching her talisman. Garnet eyes warred with determined teal for a moment until Haruka's long fingers wrapping around Setsuna's wrist.

"Tell us who you are, or I will let her look in that mirror."

Setsuna relented as she released Michiru's wrist, unable to meet Haruka's gaze. "I will tell you what I can." She glanced to her right, to the queens watching her with expectant gazes, and she sighed. "You five cannot hear this. My identity . . . there are things that I have done that you might figure out, and you cannot protect yourselves from Her if She learns that you know my ultimate secret. You have to leave."

Yumemi stood from her chair, gesturing for the other queens to follow her. "If your secret is that dangerous, I'd rather not know." She led her fellow queens out of the large council room and into the smaller meeting chamber where their kings were waiting, closing the huge doors behind herself.

Setsuna returned to her seat, watching Serenity claim the Sailor Pluto chair across from her as the senshi watched her patiently. Setsuna closed her eyes for a moment, glad that the Moon Princess could not understand what her actions meant, or how appropriate they might be. Taking a deep breath, Setsuna opened her eyes. "I'm sure you have all heard that there are two types of Sailor Pluto. One of them, the most common Sailor Pluto, is significantly less powerful and has the ability to guard the time gate from Charon Castle but cannot walk in the time streams. The other type . . . well, the other type is me. I am the only true senshi of Pluto, the only one who can control time, and the only one to carry the Garnet Orb. I am reborn every time there is a need for powerful senshi, and this is my . . . sixteenth incarnation." She took a breath, trying to decide how to explain the difference between herself and the other senshi. "There are two meanings to the word _avatar_ , the first referring to all of you. You women are descendants of your gods and you carry their power. The other meaning refers to a god taking a mortal form so they can interact with all of you. I am the second type."

Haruka leaned forward across the table, shock in her grey eyes. "You're a god?" Setsuna nodded. "Then why can't you just use your powers to stop this darkness?"

"For two reasons, Haruka. Rei, hand me a knife, please."

The Martian rose from her seat, slipping one of the combs from her hair and passing it to the dark queen. "How did you know I would have one?"

"I saw your fight on Mars," Setsuna replied dryly, examining the tiny weapon. She held her hand out above the table where all of the princesses could see, using the small knife to slice into her palm. Blood welled up from the cut, dripping onto the table's surface until her senshi healing sealed the small wound. She handed the weapon back to Rei as she returned to her seat, staring at the dark stain on the wood in front of her. "Gods don't bleed. I'm _mortal_ , Haruka. I was born from a mortal mother, I grew up at the normal rate, and one day I will die in battle or in my sick bed, just like all of you. In this form, I am bound by the same restrictions that prevent you from releasing the full power of your planets. If you did, you would destroy yourselves, just as I would. I'm not a god right now, and I can't even access any of my powers that weren't bound to the Garnet Orb thousands of years ago or risk destroying my mortal form. Zeus learned this lesson too well millennia ago, and taught us to be cautious when we choose to live as mortals. No matter my ancestry, I'm just one of you."

"But much older," Haruka pointed out. "What's the other reason?"

"When the Silver Millennium was created, there were certain restrictions placed on the gods to prevent them from using their powers to influence the people of these worlds. We thought that it would be best if you mortals were allowed to live and die on your own terms, with free will and without being forced into servitude to divine beings. When you were fighting on Mars, Rei, and almost died to Rikuriko's sword, Ares could not save you. Believe me when I say that he really wanted to. And when your soul screamed, Minako, Aphrodite was beside herself with desperation. She yelled at me and cursed my laws because she could do nothing to help you. Tranquility disagreed with the ban on divine interference, but Serenity and I convinced him that it was for the best."

Setsuna watched the senshi in the silence that followed, wondering who would figure it out first. Something stirred in Minako's blue eyes, but she was still thinking about that fight on Mars and couldn't concentrate on Setsuna's other words. Rei's amethyst eyes were narrowed, probably focusing on the free will part of Setsuna's explanation, but she would not be the first, either. Haruka's eyes were a strange mix of grey and green as she digested Setsuna's story, but as a warrior she was thinking about how they could use this new information to their advantage. Serenity was so young, so innocent, and her pale blue eyes were full of joy as Setsuna, the lonely queen, finally shared something of her past with her fellow senshi. Ami and Michiru were both staring at Setsuna with their heads tilted, sapphire and teal eyes blooming with understanding at the same rate.

Ami spoke first and with more confidence than Setsuna had expected from Amami's usually reserved child. "You're the third god who created the Silver Millennium."

"The dark one," Michiru added. She glanced down at her hands for a moment while she thought back to the visions on Mars and Jupiter, smiling as she looked up. "You're Se."

Setsuna bowed her head, proud of the two geniuses for figuring it out. "I am the only child of the God of the Underworld, Hades, and his wife, Persephone."

Haruka leaned back in her chair, running her fingers through her short blonde hair. When she sat like that, her intense eyes watching Setsuna in amazement, she truly looked just like her mother. The spirited little girl who wanted everyone to see that she was just as much a lady as the other princesses had grown into a beautiful woman, a woman so much stronger than Kazeko could ever have anticipated. "I never expected that," Haruka murmured at last. "Why did you choose to live among us through sixteen incarnations if you're such a powerful god?"

"Because I am the only one who can guard the time gate correctly, and because you need someone to guide you."

"Why have you stayed so long this time? I've looked into your records; you were born over a hundred years ago, though you don't publish that information."

Setsuna glared at Ami, crossing her arms over her chest. "I don't think I will bother asking how you looked into my records, though I'm sure it involved something illegal. As for why . . . I was waiting for this. I'm only born when a great crisis is at hand, like the Antares Uprising and the Jupiter Wars of Unification, but my mortal mother was very ill as a child, and she became infertile because of it. She would never have been able to have a normal child, so I allowed myself to be born a generation early. A little more than seventy years after I was born, there was a spectacular ball on Ganymede celebrating Princess Meika's victory in the Ganymede Invitational Tournament, and an unexpected guest arrived." Setsuna smiled as she remembered that moment, the instant she first saw Serenity and fell in love with that shy lavender-eyed princess. "She thought she could hide herself, but I knew who she was at once. She was so beautiful in the light from Jupiter, and I had to dance with her. By the end of the night, I had fallen in love."

Serenity leaned forward, realizing that Setsuna was talking about her mother. "Is she your soul mate, Setsuna?"

"Why this question, all of a sudden? You've been spending too much time with Minako; she's infected you with the Venusian obsession with soul mates."

"It's important," Serenity whispered. "I saw the vision, just like you. You love her, but is she your soul mate?"

Setsuna leaned forward, resting her arms on the table, sighing as she considered the question. "I don't know, Serenity. Gods . . . gods don't really have soul mates. In order for a soul to bind with another, they have to be born and die together through many generations. It's the death of the body that encourages the soul to search for something permanent, someone to love. Gods don't die."

"But you do," Haruka pointed out. "After fifteen deaths, your soul must be screaming."

Setsuna leaned back in her chair, Haruka's words cutting her more deeply than she could ever imagine. She rested one hand over her heart, tears unexpectedly filling her eyes as she considered the simple truth in those five words. _Your soul must be screaming._ She was as close to mortal as any god had ever come, and it was entirely possible . . . for thousands of years she had been mourning her lost lover, the goddess Serenity, but in that moment on Ganymede, she hadn't thought about Serenity at all. She had fallen in love with a mortal for the first time in ten thousand years, and she had even let her emotions overwhelm her when she saw that vision. She, Setsuna the Dark Queen, the Lonely One, had run crying to her lover for comfort, despite the dangers and the risks. "Maybe," she whispered at last.

"The Scream of Time," Ami whispered, "from the Prophecy of the Fall of the Silver Millennium. It does mean you."

"Of course it does," Setsuna replied, forcing her tears away. "Who else could it mean?" Then she realized what the Mercurian had said, and shock filled her frame once more. "You didn't. You . . . you found that book. The Ancient Law doesn't say 'the Scream of Time', and I know that there was only ever one copy of the Prophecy of the Fall of the Silver Millennium. I never intended for anyone to find that."

"Sure you did," Rei replied; "otherwise you would have just destroyed it. You wrote it in the most difficult language you knew, then you had Sailor Neptune encrypt it. We found it because we have been desperately searching for _anything_ to help us fight this darkness. That book didn't tell us much, except that the sun is probably calling for Sailor Sol, and for whatever reason, she can't be born."

"That's a lot more information than you think," Setsuna replied, pulling Garnet Orb into her hands. She focused on a single room in her father's palace and a tiny stone that had been locked there thousands of years ago. The small gem, a silvery white pearl, was silent, sitting on its cushioned pedestal as it had been since the day that its last senshi died. "The Sun can't be calling for a senshi, because Sailor Sol cannot be born without Sailor Moonlight present. The Moonlight Crystal is still asleep."

"Maybe that's why Sailor Sol can't be born," Makoto pointed out. "But the Sun is most certainly Calling; have you seen the sunspot reports from the last twenty-one years?"

Ami projected an image of the sun above the table, hundreds of dark spots marring its fiery surface. Setsuna leaned forward and stared at the image, shaking her head in denial. "This is . . . how is this possible? I have never seen the sun so active. This is beyond calling for a senshi, though increased sunspot activity has been observed before each Sailor Sol's birth. No, this is worse. This is some evil influencing our star."

"This is the darkness," Haruka replied, pushing the time knot forward. "That black line, the one that ends everything, is the same darkness that is destroying the sun."

"But we still don't know _what_ it is. Knowing that an evil exists that can affect the sun does nothing for us."

"No, Setsuna, but all of my Lesser War Queens are going to take their ships into close orbit around the sun and report all of their findings to the Mercury Royal palace through Taichen Laira. That information could be very useful." Haruka gestured for Ami to close the image of the sun before making her image of the time knot much larger. "And, in any event, I have figured out the origin point of your time knot." Setsuna raised one eyebrow, waiting for the answer, a little surprised that Haruka had figured out something that had been bugging her for a month after looking at the time knot for less than an hour. "The origin point of your time knot is the day Kazeko died and I was born."

"Why didn't I think of that? Why didn't I _see_ that? Haruka, how did you know?"

The blonde turned to Michiru, some silent communication passing between them for a moment. Michiru nodded and picked up her talisman as Haruka summoned her sword and held it before her. She closed her emerald eyes as Michiru's free hand twined with hers, the Neptunian turning her mirror toward the senshi seated to her left. Setsuna walked around the table and leaned over Michiru's shoulder, Serenity leaning over Haruka's. The mirror's surface darkened as Michiru struggled to pull the vision from Kazeko's memory, through the Space Sword, and show it to her fellow senshi.

_Kazeko sat on her throne, alone in the great chamber, nine months pregnant and clearly very tired. She sighed as she ran her hand across her belly, smiling as her baby kicked her. "So strong, little one. You're going to be the greatest queen of all time."_

" _Of course she will," a gentle voice replied from the shadows. Kazeko gasped in shock as Uranus entered the throne room, the goddess's blonde hair sparkling with diamonds and her navy dress covered in gold filigree. "She's my daughter."_

" _What do you mean?"_

" _She carries the soul of my daughter, the same soul Nao carried, and she has been a great queen in every incarnation. She will be strong and, this time, she will be my greatest senshi ever." Uranus climbed onto the dais and touched Kazeko's belly, emerald eyes filled with joy._

" _I knew that she would be strong," Kazeko replied, smiling at her goddess as a ripple crossed her belly. "I've known that as long as I've known that I will never see her."_

" _I'm sorry, Kazeko," Uranus whispered, tears filling her eyes. "I never wanted to lose you, but there are some things that I cannot control. A great darkness is coming, and she has to be ready to fight. I don't know how you saw your own death so many years ago, but you have given your daughter a chance. She will be alone for a while, but it will make her strong enough to save the Silver Millennium."_

" _Watch over her for me, will you? And make sure she is loved."_

" _I will," Uranus replied, lifting her hand as another ripple danced across Kazeko's belly. Contractions. The fragile queen was going into labor. "Kazeko, I do love you, as I have always loved each of my avatars. I will miss you more than I can say. If you could wish one thing for yourself, what would it be?"_

" _Knowing that I am dying even as my daughter struggles to be born?" Kazeko sighed and glanced down at her belly, feeling her daughter begin to kick in earnest. "I wish to be strong enough in my next life to be with my soul mate. I wish to be strong enough to protect the people I love. I wish to be strong enough to create a world of peace where no one has to live alone."_

_Uranus leaned forward and kissed Kazeko's brow, the golden symbol of her planet appearing there for the last time. "Kazeko, you will be magnificent. Your parents will love you, Shousha will be yours, and together all of you will create an era of peace."_

_Kazeko smiled through her tears, emerald eyes meeting emerald as the vision faded. "If you can promise that, then I am ready to die."_

The Space Sword fell on the table, Haruka having spent all of her strength to pull that vision from her mother's memory. She collapsed in her chair, her eyes closed as she reached for her planet and tried to replenish her energy. Michiru placed her mirror on the table, wishing that she could help her wife, but she didn't have the ability to give Haruka power through their bond. Silently, Setsuna returned to her seat, Serenity also taking hers again, all eyes turning to the time knot. "So all of this . . . it's all about Haruka?"

"Seems so, Minako," Setsuna replied. "Uranus . . . if she knew that her daughter's soul had been reborn, if she knew that this darkness was coming, why didn't she say anything to me? What else does she know that she hasn't told me?"

Minako looked at Haruka, realizing that the pale blonde was in no condition to recount her visit with her god, so the leader of the Inner Senshi decided to tell Setsuna what they had learned before her arrival. "Uranus said that Haruka is her last senshi."

"Her last?" Setsuna leaned back in her seat, running her fingers through her hair while she considered the words. "Each of the gods intended to create a perfect avatar, the ultimate senshi. The final one. They never said what would happen afterwards. If I remember correctly, Uranus was the one who told them all how to do it. Knowing her, I doubt she told anyone else her true and final plan."

"Ares said that I am his perfect avatar, the most powerful Sailor Mars of all time." Rei shrugged as the other senshi turned to look at her; modesty had never been part of the Martian character.

"Aphrodite said I am the most perfect avatar of love and beauty."

Haruka, the slightest of color having returned to her cheeks, leaned forward. "Uranus said that souls travel through time together; it's not just soul mates, but close friends are bound together, as well. If Rei, Minako, and I are the ultimate senshi of our gods, then Michiru, Makoto, and Ami must be, as well. If we are the most powerful senshi, what are we supposed to do? What do they expect of us?"

"You have to save the Silver Millennium."

"It sounds easy when you say it like that, Setsuna." Makoto waved her hand dramatically in the air, indicating that she had no idea how to accomplish that goal. "How are we supposed to know that we're the strongest?"

"Well, I hear that you were training in every sort of environment over the last week; tell me what you learned."

"Well, we learned different sword fighting styles, archery, unarmed combat . . ."

"Your powers," Setsuna interrupted, sensing that the women were reluctant to reveal that information. Minako blushed and glanced at Rei, something passing between light blue and brilliant amethyst eyes before the blonde relented.

"We've been practicing combining our powers. Rei and Haruka learned to create heated air to melt the snow on Deimos. Rei and I can combine our powers to make glass filled with golden light, and Haruka and Makoto managed to create an electrical storm covering half of the Tosha Plains on Metis to confuse the predators there." Setsuna's eyes were dark, concern in those garnet depths, widening in shock at Minako's final words. "On Venus, Michiru, Haruka, Ami, and Makoto created the most intense thunderstorm I have ever seen, complete with freezing rain and hurricane-force winds."

"That's . . . none of your mothers were ever able to combine their powers."

Michiru tilted her head in disbelief. "Really? It's not like we were trying to make that storm. It just happened."

"What were you doing when the storm happened?"

Rei, Makoto, and Haruka managed to continue staring forward without reaction, but Ami, Michiru, and Minako looked away, blushes staining their cheeks. Haruka coughed and pushed herself forward, catching Setsuna's attention and giving the three senshi time to control their reactions to the memories of Sunrise Bay. "We were training," the blonde replied, "but we never expected to be able to create that powerful of a storm."

Setsuna shook her head slowly, trying to determine why three of the senshi were visibly uneasy and the others were avoiding her gaze. "I'm just not sure. That's not enough to say whether you are the ultimate senshi or not."

Serenity leaned forward, eyes focusing on the Time Key beside Setsuna's chair. "Can you look? I've heard that you have the power to look into someone's future by touching them, so perhaps you can see if these are the strongest senshi of all time."

Setsuna sighed and reached for her Garnet Orb, removing it from her staff before walking around the table. "It's very unpredictable, Serenity. I can't always control what I see, and I would prefer to try all of you at once."

Serenity nodded and stood from her chair, Michiru and Makoto helping Haruka to her feet while Minako and Rei took up position at Setsuna's elbows. Ami, taking her place between Makoto and Rei, placed her hand on the Orb first, followed by her girlfriend, Minako, and Rei. Serenity carefully touched the tips of her fingers to the dark red surface, followed by Michiru and finally Haruka. Closing her eyes, Setsuna focused the powers of the time stream into her orb, concentrating on her fellow senshi.

_A petite blonde woman stood on a low hill overlooking a crystal city. Her long hair was tied up in the traditional royal style, a dress of gossamer silk cloaking her form. The delicate crown on her head marked her as a queen, and the man dressed in light purple armor standing so proudly behind her had to be her king. Arranged behind the pair in a loose semicircle, eight women guarded her faithfully, as they had always done and as they always would. The first senshi was small, her dark blue hair framing an elfin face, sapphire eyes watching her queen intently beneath a golden tiara holding a sapphire stone. Her senshi uniform was white, a light blue bow on her chest with a dark blue star in the center, the colors matching the colors of her double skirt and the sailor cape over her shoulders. Her long white boots, a blue band and gold star at the top, emphasized the length of her slender legs, and the white gloves that covered her arms ended in three blue bands above her elbow. Her blue choker with a gold star in the center matched the rest of her uniform, two long blue ribbons flowing from the bow on her back and blowing in the wind._

_Beside the first warrior, towering over the blue-haired woman, the second soldier was strong, tall, and proud. Her long, chestnut hair, restrained in a simple ponytail, twisted in the wind, two loose strands framing her face. Her emerald eyes matched the darker, more prominent green color present in her uniform, her longer underskirt a few shades lighter. The bow on her chest was a rosy pink, an odd shock of color against the green of her uniform, but the color seemed to suit her. She also wore a golden tiara, the stone in the center a dark emerald green, and nobility cloaked her strong form. Beside her, taller than the first woman but shorter than the second, a dark-skinned warrior watched the queen in silence, a tall key-shaped staff in one hand and an oddly content smile on her face. Her long, dark green hair reached past her knees, bangs almost covering the garnet in the center of the simple tiara on her brow. Her white uniform boasted a black double skirt and dark red bow, her long white boots and gloves the same as her follow warriors'. Despite the black color prominent in her uniform, she was clearly happy, no darkness in her striking garnet eyes and no tension in her stance._

_The next pair were vibrantly colored, as if in contrast to the first three. The first, just barely taller than her partner, wore a uniform colored in red, the underskirt pink and the bow on her chest purple. Her eyes matched that vibrant amethyst shade, and her long, raven hair shone purple in the sun, bangs covering her golden tiara and the red stone in the center. She was a warrior, but there was a softness in her eyes while she watched the queen that told of a loving heart beneath her tough exterior. Standing just beside her, the woman with vibrant golden hair seemed made to match the raven-haired warrior, light for her fire, and it was clear that they had shared a great deal over the years. Her pale blue eyes were filled with joy, but there was a harder undertone, the mantle of a leader evident in those orbs. Her uniform had an orange skirt with a yellow underskirt, orange ribbons hanging from her back and orange bands on her boots and gloves. The woman dressed in light bore a single spot of darkness, the navy bow on her chest with an orange star in the center. Her hair was mildly restrained by a red bow, the tiara on her forehead holding an orange stone._

_The last three warriors stood together on the opposite side of the queen, two of them taller than the third but all of them powerful. The tallest exuded strength, from the muscles of her legs and arms that could not be hidden by white gloves and boots, to the power glowing from her emerald eyes. She had the shortest hair in the group, her messy blonde locks teased by the gentle breeze, a simple tiara with a navy-blue stone hiding beneath those strands. She wore her uniform proudly, the dark navy skirt brightened by a lighter blue underskirt, a golden bow on her chest with a navy star in the center. If the long-haired blonde in the center was a leader, so too was this woman wearing opposite colors, but she had no worry in her vibrant eyes. She was a warrior who had won, the commander of a victorious army who had finally lived long enough to celebrate life. In one hand she held a sword, the jeweled scabbard attached to the navy ribbons on her hip as if by magic, and the gentlest of smiles graced her lips._

_Standing by her side, the warrior's partner was a full head shorter and far more feminine. Her long, wavy aqua hair seemed accustomed to the gusting wind, a golden tiara with a teal stone revealed on her brow. Her eyes were an odd shade of blue, somewhere between teal and sapphire, the color almost a match for her teal skirt and lighter sea green underskirt. The bow on her chest matched the bluest shade of her eyes, and the mirror in her hand was also colored in a rich sea green. She glanced up at the tall blonde and smiled, their partnership too old to require words to convey the joy she was feeling at the moment. By her side, the smallest of the warriors watched the queen in silence, her dark purple eyes matching the dark purple of her skirt, a lighter purple coloring her underskirt and the bands on her gloves and shoes. The stone on her tiara was white, an empty color, while the bow on her chest was an odd dark red. Her short hair reached just past her shoulders, its vibrant purple color matching her eyes, and in her hand she held a black and silver scythe. Her weapon was powerful enough to destroy the world, but from the smile on her face and the joy in her stance, she had no intention of using it for such a purpose._

Setsuna fell to her knees as the vision ended, barely able to hold her orb as the other senshi pulled away. Serenity leaned down and grabbed Setsuna's arm, helping the older woman to her feet, light blue eyes smiling at the dark queen. "Did you see?"

"Yes," Setsuna whispered, unable to comprehend that perfect, happy group of warriors standing with their queen.

"What was it?"

"The future," she replied simply. "That could be this life or our next lives, but there is no question that our souls will see that future."

"Did you see my hair?! Black! No self-respecting Martian princess would be caught dead with black hair!" Setsuna rolled her eyes; she had not expected Rei to be the first person to find fault with her appearance.

"You looked fine," Minako replied, a soothing lilt to her voice. "Makoto had brown hair and you don't see her complaining."

"I like my green much better," the Jovian replied, pursing her lips. "The rest of you looked the same; how is it only me and Rei are going to have different colored hair?"

"Those uniforms are not the same ones we have now," Ami pointed out, leaning forward to stare at the Garnet Orb. "Is that a future evolution of our powers?"

Setsuna nodded slowly, remembering that the senshi uniform had changed slightly over time, so it made sense that it could change again if the soldiers were powerful enough. "I don't know what could make you so strong, but I think that your changed uniforms are proof enough that all of you are your gods' ultimate senshi."

"You were there, too," Michiru noted, glancing at her mirror on the table beside her. "It seems that you are also capable of becoming stronger."

"You're missing the most important part of that vision," Haruka whispered. "There was an eighth senshi, wearing the same uniform as the rest of us. That girl with the purple eyes . . . she had to be Sailor Saturn. She had the scythe, but she wasn't using it. From the strength of her stance, I would guess that she had been Sailor Saturn for nearly as long as the others had been senshi, fighting with them, growing stronger together."

"It's possible for her to fight as a senshi," Serenity whispered, joy in her light blue eyes. "Setsuna, if she can fight in the future, then maybe she will help us push back the evil from your time knot. Maybe she's rising to save us all."

"It's possible," Setsuna conceded, an odd hope fluttering in her chest. These women were the strongest senshi of all time and together they might be able to defeat the greatest evil that had ever threatened the Silver Millennium. She didn't have to worry and fret because her partners were powerful and their future was bright. She smiled at the other women, narrowing her eyes as she remembered Serenity's king. "Who was that man?"

The petite blonde smiled, raising her hands to her chest in joy. "That was Endymion, currently the Prince of Earth. He's going to be my king."

Setsuna smiled wryly as she ran her fingers through her long, green hair. "Well at least I know _why_ you were on Earth to find that book of prophecies. An alliance between the Moon and the Earth could be good for the Silver Millennium."

Serenity nodded excitedly, grabbing Setsuna's hand and pulling her toward the door. "We have to go tell the kings and queens the good news!" The dark queen summoned her Time Staff from the other side of the table and returned the Garnet Orb to its place on the top as she let the small blonde drag her out of the room. Ami, Makoto, and Minako followed the Plutonian, Michiru and Rei supporting the still-weak Uranian as the group headed for the door. Letting her talisman vanish, Haruka leaned heavily on Rei's strong shoulder, trusting the crimson-haired warrior to support her. Michiru grabbed her mirror and followed her wife, glancing back at the empty Council Chamber with a smile on her face. The meeting had lifted the dark aura of gloom that had been cloaking the senshi for weeks, giving them something that they all desperately needed.

Hope.

* * *

Tranquility sat in a simple chair overlooking the pen, trees on either side hiding Beryl's work from the eyes of curious onlookers. Dozens of cupids ringed the area, eyes alert for any danger or trespassers, some of them watching Beryl warily. The newest member of the Cult crouched above a prone form just outside the huge pen, the dying human barely able to breathe anymore. She reached down and rested a hand over his heart, a malicious grin covering her face as dark energy flowed from her into the coughing human. He screamed as her power filled him, but the red-headed woman never faltered. A moment later, the human was silent, his body morphing into one of the strange shadow beasts that filled the pen beside Beryl. The cupid smiled lovingly, like a mother to her children, and took what passed for the creature's hand in her own, leading him to the gate. She opened it and gently urged him inside, locking it behind him. She swayed from the effort of turning the man, two cupids by her side in an instant. They helped Beryl ascend the five steps to Tranquility's observation deck, letting her sit in the only other chair under the bamboo awning.

"It's becoming harder to find the injured and the dying, my lord."

Tranquility shrugged. "Can't you convert healthy Earthlings?"

"No, my lord. In order for them to change into youma, they must die, and I don't have the power to kill a healthy soul. If I make enough, though, I will be able to corrupt the minds of healthy men and force them to do my bidding."

Tranquility nodded, staring into the pen where nearly a hundred of Beryl's youma milled about, not needing sustenance or sleep and completely under her control. He had never seen an army like it. "The Earthlings are a warlike species; I am sure you can stir some of them to fight and kill each other. I will give you a contingent of cupids to help you in that task, then you can convert the recently dead bodies of your fellow Earthlings."

Beryl smiled and bowed her head, accepting Tranquility's offer. In the back of her mind, the dark whisper she had come to know as _Metallia_ seemed pleased, as well. "As soon as I have a thousand or so youma, I can use them to drain power from the Earthlings living in nearby villages, granting me enough power to convert generals into my army. Once I am strong enough for that, the speed of my process will increase a hundredfold. When that happens, we will be ready to hunt down your troublesome senshi."

Tranquility smiled, reaching over to take Beryl's hand and kiss it gratefully. "Then the talismans will be able to summon Serenity, and I will have my beloved sister back. Thank you, Beryl, for giving me a gift beyond anything a cupid has ever managed."

"What gift, my lord?"

"Hope."


	25. The Last Betrayal

**Chapter 25: The Last Betrayal**

* * *

_February 20, 8983 – February 27, 8983_

* * *

"I'm exhausted."

"Good. Maybe the rest of us will get some sleep tonight."

Haruka glared at Rei, her stormy blue eyes narrowed at the Martian's comment. "Next time someone has to channel a dead spirit, _you_ do it, Pyro. I could live without your screams for a night."

"I do not scream!"

"You do," Ami replied in her matter-of-fact way, engrossed in the book of prophecies; "you might scream less than Minako, but you are much louder and we can always tell when she uses the chains."

Minako chuckled at the blush on Rei's cheeks, pulling her lover into her arms as she stretched out on the low couch across from Haruka's. The guest tower Meika had given them was huge, with five floors of bedrooms, a spacious sitting room on the top floor, and even a private swimming pool in the walled-off garden below. They had been there for three days already, and with Haruka still recovering from her mother's antics and the vision she had spent so much energy to show, they had decided to stay for a few more. It was the most comfortable palace they had visited, and they even had rooms far enough apart that they didn't have to worry about overhearing each other, despite Haruka and Rei's banter. Haruka and Michiru had taken the room on the bottom floor closest to the garden and pool, Rei and Minako were on the second story, Ami and Makoto were on the next level, and Serenity had her own room on the top sleeping floor, two floors above all of her senshi on the most protected level. Having just returned from the tumultuous meeting on Titan, they were relaxing together in the large sitting room, the afternoon sunlight warm against the green curtains. Michiru had gone outside to swim, leaving Haruka time to recuperate and endure the merciless teasing of her friends.

"Have you found the _Rebirth_ prophecy that Uranus mentioned?"

"Not yet," Ami replied, struggling to translate an especially difficult passage. "Honestly, it could take days, depending on how obscure it is. I only found the first four so easily because they were the first ones in the book. If Setsuna didn't understand this _Rebirth_ prophecy, she probably buried it among these hundreds of other tiny, obscure little snippets. The least she could have done was give me a table of contents."

Makoto chuckled, tapping on the computer in the corner as she scanned through news and gossip reports from the other planets, sparing a glance for her studious girlfriend. "You should offer to rewrite her book," the Jovian replied.

"I might." Sighing in frustration, Ami closed the book and pushed it to the other side of the table, groaning and dropping her head into her hands. "I don't want to read anymore. Makoto, what are you up to over there?"

"Gossip from Uranus."

"My planet doesn't have gossip," Haruka replied, stretching out on the couch and closing her eyes. "How could you have found anything like that?"

"Well, it says here that some priest in the High Temple of Uranus on Titania was turned into a white stag earlier this afternoon. It wore off after a few hours, but he couldn't remember anything other than the goddess Uranus appearing before him in a navy dress and ordering everyone to leave her temple."

Haruka chuckled, running her fingers through her hair modestly. "That was me he saw. I'm kind of flattered that he thought I was the goddess. But as for the deer thing . . . it's not gossip, and it's not the first time in the last three thousand years that a priest has been transformed into a game animal in that temple."

"How did it happen?"

Haruka grinned. "Uranus has been sleeping with Artemis recently, a goddess who has a habit of turning men into animals after they've seen her naked. Usually she has her Amazons hunt them down afterwards; I suppose Uranus is a calming influence on her."

"Why would Artemis be naked in Uranus's temple?" Haruka leaned up at her wife's voice, the aquanette entering the room with a towel in one hand, a simple blue knee-length dress covering her still-damp form. Michiru dropped her towel on the table beside the door, joining her wife on the long couch.

Haruka shrugged, wrapping her arm around Michiru's shoulder and pulling the smaller woman down into her arms. "I imagine she was so turned on from kissing me that she needed to be with her lover."

Michiru giggled and leaned forward, kissing Haruka gently before snuggling into her arms. Serenity looked up from her data pad, smiling at her senshi before returning to her lessons. "What are you studying?" The Venusian leaned over her wife's arm, blue eyes trying to focus on the screen in front of her princess.

"I'm working on my languages, Minako. Right now, I'm on Venusian."

"I can help you with that." Serenity smiled gratefully, scooting across the floor to sit beside Minako's couch, the blonde senshi dislodging her lover as she stretched out. "Show me what you're having problems with."

"My pronunciation," Serenity admitted. "It's so different from Sol Standard and even Lunarian, and I'm told that the language doesn't work correctly if your inflection is just the littlest bit off."

"It doesn't," Minako admitted. "In order to convey your emotions accurately, the words have to flow like music. Here, read this sentence to me."

" _Jaiuss'ita namurenu tes ish inahs."_

Minako scrunched her nose, shaking her head at the princess. "What language did you learn last?"

"Martian."

"It shows." Rei pushed herself onto her arms, scoffing at her lover, but the blonde ignored the offended look in the Martian's eyes. "Your stops are too fast and you aren't holding your vowels." She took a breath and touched Serenity's screen, highlighting the phonetic translation. " _Jahiuus'iehta nahmyurenhu te'es ish ienahss."_ Her words filled the room, offering the other princesses a taste of her contentment, and Serenity nodded, glancing down at the sentence once more.

Rei leaned over Minako's prone form, listening to Serenity carefully repeat the sentence, her innocent joy joining the words. She smiled as the Moon Princess began to read from her data pad, meaningless sentences about cats under tables or Venusian Lyre Beasts in trees, but her simple happiness filled the room, relaxing the senshi. Rei ran her fingers softly across Minako's back, the beginning of a gentle massage, and the Venusian smiled lovingly at her soul mate before returning to Serenity's lesson. Makoto, bored with the news outlets, lifted the book that Ami had abandoned, emerald eyes scanning letters she could never hope to read while her girlfriend giggled at her elbow. Ami slipped into Makoto's lap, reading her one of the least melancholy passages in a soft whisper, making sure not to interrupt Serenity's lesson.

Minako gasped as Rei deepened her massage, the gentle pressure relaxing her muscles and changing the undertone in her words. When she repeated the next sentence for Serenity, the aura of contentment had morphed into something stronger, the faintest undercurrent of desire coloring her tone. Haruka, concentrating on her wife's soft skin under her fingertips, barely noticed the change in Minako's words, but she felt warmth slowly fill her frame. Michiru glanced up, sensing the change in her wife's aura, tensing when she noticed the gold striations in those emerald depths. "Try practicing that rolling transition again, Serenity. _Ghehaasrrii ieya'ie hainan'ha._ " Michiru's teal eyes darkened to sapphire immediately as Minako's words washed over her, and she promptly forgot the other women in the room. She leaned forward and kissed Haruka's chin, smiling as her lover's arms wrapped around her waist and pulled her closer.

Makoto leaned over Ami's shoulder, staring at the book in her girlfriend's lap, amazed at the complexity of the Ancient Lunarian script. She reached up and brushed Ami's dark blue hair away from her neck, eyes widening as desire filled her frame. She leaned down and kissed that exposed skin, her hands reaching for her lover's breasts. Ami squeaked in shock, glancing up over her shoulder to reprimand her Jovian, moaning as Makoto's lips found hers. Eyes closed, Ami closed her book and placed it safely to the side, twisting around in Makoto's arms and deepening the kiss.

"Oh, here, that's what I said to Rei the day we met. You have to be careful with the pronunciation if you want to be understood. _Laorisa hainan'ha yo'usehnah_." Minako's blue eyes darkened as she remembered how beautiful Rei had been that night and how desperately she had wanted the Martian. Rei stopped her massage, grabbing Minako's shoulder and flipping her onto her back. The Venusian's eyes widened as Rei leaned in for a kiss, not caring that Serenity was still obliviously reading the sentences from her data pad. "Rei, what are you doing?"

" _Silly question,"_ Rei replied, desire washing over Minako with her lover's words. The blonde's eyes widened in shock as she realized that her powers had affected her mate, and the darkness in Rei's amethyst eyes let her know that the Martian had no plans to stop what she was doing with her hands.

"Minako, what are you doing?" Serenity's question was more concerned than Minako's had been, the princess staring at Rei's wandering hands in something akin to shock.

"Being careless," the blonde hissed, slipping free of Rei's hold and pushing the Martian to the floor. Serenity watched, eyes wide, as Rei shook her head, breaking free of her mate's power, confusion in her eyes.

"Mina?"

"Remember when I told you that I could project my emotions as Sailor Venus? Well, it seems that the combination of my language and my lineage has had some unexpected side effects." Minako waved one hand at Makoto and Ami locked in a frantic embrace, the Jovian's hands lost somewhere under her lover's shirt. On the other side of the room, Michiru had Haruka pinned to the couch, the blonde's jacket and shirt already on the floor while the Neptunian's fingers searched for a way to remove the cloth that bound and flattened her lover's breasts.

"Minako, you have to break them out of this."

The blonde nodded and closed her eyes, accessing her projection ability and focusing on that single instant of fear that had consumed her when Rei was almost eaten by the huge reptile on Metis. Makoto jerked away from Ami, eyes wide as she turned to Minako, fear giving way to confusion. Ami blushed as she realized what they had almost done in front of their friends, hiding her face in her lover's chest. Michiru pulled away from Haruka, slipping off the couch and turning to Minako, sapphire eyes narrowed in annoyance. The leader of the Inner Senshi shrank back from that gaze, an apology in her pale blue eyes.

"I didn't mean to."

Michiru sighed and shrugged, the motion completely unladylike but acceptable given the current situation and her own uncertainty. She glanced back at her lover, but Haruka's eyes were no longer focused on her. Those golden orbs had wandered away from the woman who was clearly no longer interested, instead focusing on the source of the power flowing through the room. The tall blonde rose from the couch, every motion calculated to attract, sensuality pulsing off of her in waves. She walked across the room, focused on Minako, ignoring the Martian and Lunarian standing beside her target.

"Minako, fear won't work on a Uranian," Rei murmured, trying to decide the best way to prevent Haruka from jumping her girlfriend. "It won't cool her lust."

"Then what can?!"

"I can," Michiru replied softly, stepping forward and placing herself between the two blondes, resting her hand on Haruka's chest. She _sent_ the memory of their honeymoon night across their bond, smiling as the gold faded from Haruka's eyes and she stopped trying to push forward. "Are you okay?"

Haruka nodded, glancing over her wife's shoulder in confusion. The guilty look on Minako's face told the story, and the Uranian sighed as she ran her fingers through her short hair. "You really have to work on controlling that power."

"I know."

"All of you need to practice your secondary abilities," Michiru pointed out, leading her wife back to their couch and helping her back into her shirt. "I won't say I've mastered my precognition, but after forcing that vision of destruction without my mirror, I am much closer than the rest of you. I was able to make my mirror show what I wanted to see, and not many Sailor Neptunes have had that kind of control."

"What do you suggest?"

Michiru turned to Minako first, waiting until Makoto and Ami claimed the third couch and everyone was comfortable before she began. "You, Minako, should try to speak only in Venusian for the next few days. Your power can project emotions, but it also has the ability to conceal them. Speak your native tongue and avoid letting us know your feelings. If you can't prevent everything from coming through, then use calm to mask anything else. Not only will that help Serenity with her lessons, but it will teach you to have self-control at all times, even when Rei is with you. In a true fight, fear and desperation must be pushed aside for the sake of the team."

Minako nodded, twining her fingers with her lover's. _"You're right. As a leader I can't show any weakness."_ Her voice and the underlying emotions were calm and steady, the soft words gaining her a nod of approval from Michiru.

"Rei, you have to practice your sixth sense and your premonitions. Without knowing anything about a person, you must be able to determine if they are good or evil, and without the aid of your other senses you must be able to fight. I read about Martian fire-reading, and I am sure that you have stared into flames as a meditation practice before. Ami and I will help you with that while Haruka and Makoto will help you fight blind."

Rei nodded, a slow smile spreading across her face. "Being able to sense danger before it happens is one of Sailor Mars's strengths, but I never put much time into training my mind with so many weapons to learn."

"Makoto, your physical strength is your secondary ability, so Haruka and Rei will help you test your limits and increase them. Ami, you and I will work on your mind with some of those games you brought from Mercury while Haruka helps you with war strategies and simulations." She turned to her wife, head tilted to one side. "I don't know what to do with you, Ruka."

"I know what you _should_ do with me," Haruka purred, grinning at the sharp glance Michiru sent her. The Neptunian continued as if her wife had not spoken.

"There's no one on this world fast enough to test your speed."

"You are. You were always able to keep up with me on Neptune."

"I'll always keep up with you," Michiru replied, "but I can't help you hone your skills."

Haruka shrugged and leaned back against the couch. "We should go to Oberon, then. The War Queens have to earn their rank through combat, so most of them would be good sparring partners for me, and some of them were champion sprinters in their youths. You guys could learn some things from them, too."

"That's true," Ami murmured, sapphire eyes unfocused as she considered everything she knew about Uranians. "In order to be named War Queen, a woman must have achieved a certain number of war and arts titles, and one of them must be _Kazemaru_. If there are any non-senshi who can truly help us improve our fighting skills, the War Queens and their children are certainly on the list."

"We'll go there after we get Michiru's Planet Crystal from Larissa."

"We aren't going to get yours first? I thought, since Uranus is closer . . ."

Haruka shook her head, thinking back to her conversation with Uranus. "If I am going to figure out how to break the seal on our planets, the answer will come to me on Uranus. We need to save it for last, when I am fully recovered from what happened this morning on Titan. I have to be able to fully connect with Nao's spirit or we'll just carry powerless crystals around with us until that darkness destroys everything."

Makoto nodded, accepting Haruka's answer and her reason. "I assume you still want to finish this quest before Michiru's birthday?"

"We must," the blonde replied. "Uranus told me where I had to be the night of Michiru's birthday. Something is going to happen that night, presumably the awakening of the crystals. Otherwise, I can't imagine why she would mention it."

"We can leave in two days, if you're feeling up to it."

"Sounds good."

* * *

"I must admit, I'm sad to see you go."

Haruka grinned, offering Meika a brief hug before backing away. The queen and her sons had gathered to see the group of senshi off, her husband standing in the shadows of the palace talking with Makoto. "It was nice, to have this break. I didn't expect to stay on Io for more than a day, but your hospitality and possibly the indestructible nature of your training grounds have made this week memorable."

Ken'nin stepped forward and crossed his arm over his chest before bowing; a warrior's salute. Haruka returned the gesture, glad to have found such friends among Makoto's family. "I'll miss you, Haruka. It's strange to say this, but I wanted you to stay until I was strong enough to beat you."

"Won't ever happen," Haruka replied haughtily, emerald eyes sparkling. "No man can ever defeat a Queen of Uranus." Ken'nin chuckled at her words.

"We'll see you on Triton for Michiru's crowning," Saiki promised, the prince wiping tears from his ice green eyes. "You'll put on a good show for us, won't you?"

"Of course. It'll be a party to remember."

Eiki took Michiru's hand and kissed it, the motion so gentle and the prince so sad that Haruka never felt threatened. "I hope you will play your violin for us some day," he whispered, smiling through his grief. "And I hope you know how lucky you are, Haruka, to have such a beautiful and talented wife."

"I do," the Uranian replied, pulling Michiru into her arms as Makoto gathered Ami and returned to her brothers. She looked up at her father, but Meisha had finally come to terms both with Haruka's identity and Makoto's choice in lovers. He had accepted the information about Meika and Amami's love life with equanimity, but it had taken him two days to decide that Ami was an acceptable partner for his only daughter. The petite Mercurian had been nervous, but the strength she gave Makoto was as clear as her love for the Jovian, so Meisha had eventually given them his blessing.

"Ready to go?" Minako and Rei returned to the group from the pile of baggage in the center of the courtyard, the Martian speaking for both of them. Serenity glanced up at Minako, a question in her eyes, but the tears on the Venusian's cheeks explained her silence. She was too sad about their departure to trust her voice or her power, so she stayed silent as each of the princes embraced her.

"Too bad a man can't be your soul mate, Minako," Saiki commented, wiping the tears from the blonde's cheeks. "You and I would have made quite the pair."

Rei offered Saiki a hug, smiling at the tears in his eyes. "Take care of yourself, Saiki."

"Take care of her," he replied, stepping back to offer Rei the same warrior's salute that Ken'nin and Haruka had shared.

"Always," the Martian replied, returning the salute before taking Minako in her arms once more. Minako buried her face in her lover's crimson hair, her entire body shaking as she silently sobbed. She was the oldest daughter of the Queen of Venus, having grown up surrounded by servants and tutors, but she had never had a friend. The princes were her first real friends, ones she had chosen herself, as precious to her as the women chosen by destiny to fight by her side.

" _I didn't expect it to be this hard,"_ Minako whispered, her sorrow leaking through their bond though she somehow managed to keep it out of her voice.

Serenity grabbed Rei's hand and pulled her toward the center of the courtyard, smiling gently as they joined the other four senshi. "It's time to go."

The six senshi transformed, joining hands in a circle around their princess and their pile of luggage as they summoned their powers. An instant later, they were gone.

* * *

"Are you sure it's a good idea not to tell your mother that we're here?"

"It's for the best," Michiru replied, staring into her mirror. "She keeps the keystone in here somewhere, and I know she won't miss it." She focused her power through her talisman, smiling as an image appeared in the reflective surface. She smiled and walked away from the group, heading deeper into the armory. Haruka watched her wife walk away, a half-smile on her face as she contemplated what she wanted to do to that lovely woman once night fell. Michiru glanced over her shoulder and winked, knowing what was going through the blonde's mind. She returned to her search, locating the keystone a few minutes later, returning to the group of senshi in triumph. "I suppose we're off to Larissa now."

Minako nodded and reached for Michiru's hand, completing their circle once more.

The group appeared on an empty blue sand beach, waves crashing against the shore while birds filled the air overhead. Michiru looked around and smiled, the serenity of the beach relaxing her. "Isn't it beautiful here?"

Haruka shrugged, gazing across the sea with indifferent blue-green eyes as she lifted her bag onto one shoulder and Michiru's onto the other. "If you like this sort of thing."

"I hope you do," Michiru replied sweetly, holding out her keystone; "because my planet crystal is somewhere in the middle of the Coral Sea."

Haruka blanched, eyes wide as she backed away from the water. Ami giggled at the expression on the sky senshi's face, hiding behind Makoto when Haruka turned to glare at her. "Michi, you know I don't like being out in the water."

"We'll be in a boat."

"That's not helpful."

"Don't worry, Ruka; I'll protect you from the big, evil ocean."

Haruka rolled her eyes, sighing as she followed the Neptunian along the beach, the rest of the women trailing behind with bags on their backs, heading for a low cliff overlooking the calm blue sea. They climbed a rough stone staircase to the top of the rise, the women gasping in awe as the small palace Michiru used as a retreat came into view. The tall building, composed of veined blue rock and huge stained-glass windows, perched on the edge of the cliff, a smaller building below it in the water. "Is this place yours?"

Michiru shook her head, leading the group through the main entrance of the palace, stopping just inside the entrance while the rest of the women filed past her. They piled their colorful bags haphazardly against the wall to be dealt with when the search itself was finished. "It is now, Minako, but I don't know who built it originally, only that it's very old. My mother used this place as a retreat when she was younger. I had that piano there brought in for Haruka to play, but everything else is the same."

"This is a beautiful palace," Ami whispered, turning around slowly. "No one lives here?"

"This moon is uninhabited," Michiru replied, leading the princesses to the two doors in the back of the room, opening the left one to reveal a winding staircase leading down to the building below the cliff. They entered the boat house and silently followed Michiru as she boarded the single yacht anchored there. As soon as everyone was loaded on board, Michiru showed Ami and Makoto how to release the ropes holding the boat and push off from the dock, guiding the ship out of the cave and into the open sea.

"I really don't like this."

Michiru glanced at her keystone, setting a course on the ship's computer before grabbing her wife's hand and pulling her up the stairs to the upper deck. She pushed Haruka to the front of the deck, waiting until the blonde gripped the railing before backing away. "Just close your eyes, Ruka, and relax."

Haruka sighed as she closed her eyes, fighting the roiling in her stomach as the yacht sliced through the gentle waves of the inlet, heading for some unknown location in the center of the Coral Sea. As the mild nausea faded, the tall senshi felt the wind rushing around her, tearing at her hair and cooling her skin. As a smile slowly spread across her face, she released her death grip on the railing and spread her arms out to the side, her element surrounding her. Haruka smiled as a pair of slender arms snaked around her waist, Michiru's cheek coming to rest on her shoulder blade.

"Feel better?"

"Yes," Haruka whispered, bringing her hands down and covering Michiru's. "I feel . . . out here where the wind meets the sea, I feel like there is no war coming, no danger, no cupids, and no need for these planet crystals. I think I understand why you like the sea so much, my siren."

Michiru smiled, pulling away from her wife and leaning over the railing to see if her keystone had started to react. Ami glanced up at her fellow water senshi, gesturing toward the console and the keystone hanging there. Michiru nodded and took Haruka's hand, leading the blonde back down to the lower deck and the other senshi. "Are we close, Ami?"

The petite woman nodded, pointing at the keystone hanging by the wheel. "The pulsing is erratic; we may be slightly off course."

Michiru nodded and took the wheel, one eye on her keystone and the other on the open water before her as she turned the ship slightly in the direction her stone indicated. Beside her, leaning over the railing and staring into the clear blue water, Rei glanced up at Haruka and grinned. "Still feeling a little seasick, Wind?"

Haruka glared at the redhead, hating when anyone even hinted that she had a weakness, but Minako's hand on her arm halted her response. _"Rei's just teasing you because the sea doesn't agree with her, either."_ Her words were amused, but none of her emotions leaked into her tone.

Haruka smirked at Minako's words and the blush on Rei's cheeks, sighing as she joined the fire senshi at the railing. The blonde rested her arm on the Martian's shoulders, offering her silent support to the younger warrior. Rei glanced up and smiled, thanking Haruka as she struggled not to show how much the sea was bothering her.

"I believe we are here."

"There's nothing here." Rei waved her hand at the empty sea, pointing out the obvious lack of land before the boat.

Michiru nodded as she slipped her keystone around her neck, stopping the boat and leaning out over the bow. "There must be an underwater cave system here. The keystone is going crazy. Are you guys ready for some diving?"

Haruka and Rei blanched and looked away, Ami chuckling at their reaction. Serenity leaned over the railing, staring into the fathomless azure depths before pulling back. "It's very deep, Michiru. How are you going to find this cave?"

Michiru glanced at the cabin, doing some quick calculations before pulling her hair into a high ponytail. "We're going diving, I suppose. We certainly have breather masks for everyone and wetsuits. The only problem is the pressure, but I know we can use our senshi powers to keep from being crushed and to prevent decompression sickness when we find the cave. I'm sure that whatever cavern we find will have air if it holds my planet crystal, so we will be fine once we get there . . ."

"Michiru . . . I don't think I can go with you."

"Princess?"

Serenity shrugged and glanced around the circle of senshi, blue eyes conflicted. "I don't have any senshi powers to protect me from the pressure of the water, and I can't help you once you find this cave system. I think it would be safer if I just take the boat back to your little palace and wait for you all to teleport back." Serenity smiled kindly at her senshi, somehow appearing much older than her fourteen years, placing a small hand on Michiru's cheek. "I saw that you have a communications uplink in your palace; I thought I could use the time to catch up with Endymion."

Michiru glanced up at Haruka, the other senshi echoing her action as they wondered if their blonde leader would let the princess return to the cliff on her own, if she would be willing to let Serenity out of her sight. Haruka turned to Minako, the leaders exchanging some silent communication before both of them nodded. Minako twisted her wrist in that odd motion she used to summon her chain, stepping forward with her glowing talisman and wrapping it around Serenity's waist. The chain's ends fused together to become a belt for the young princess, Minako nodding in satisfaction. "Wear this at all times. If anything happens to you, I'll know it immediately and we'll teleport back to you." The situation was too important for her to speak in Venusian, a language her princess only haltingly understood, and she needed to make sure that Serenity would be safe away from her senshi protectors.

"Do you think this is necessary?"

Minako reached up and placed a gentle hand on Serenity's cheek. "No precaution is unnecessary, my princess. You are the most precious thing in the world to us and we will make sure that you are protected at all times."

Serenity smiled and wiped a stray tear from her eye, amazed at the devotion these six women had toward her, even though they had only been acquainted for a few short weeks. "We'll always be together, won't we?"

"Of course we will," Haruka replied. "You can count on that."

Michiru led the senshi into the lower level of the yacht and found wetsuits for everyone, as well as flippers and breather masks that could extract oxygen from the water. As soon as everyone was suited up, she instructed Rei and Minako to pull their hair up and braid it so that it wouldn't get in their way or tangled in the coral when they dove. The emerged onto the deck to find Serenity familiarizing herself with the controls, Rei joining the young blonde for a moment as the other women slipped the breather masks over their faces and checked their seals. "Take care of yourself, Serenity."

"I should be the one saying that to you," the princess returned. "It's not like any of these crystals have been easy to get, or even always safe. Please, all of you return to me in one piece, especially you, Rei."

"Of course we'll all come back safely," the Martian replied confidently, leaning forward to kiss Serenity's forehead on her moon mark before slipping her breather mask over her face. She leaned over the railing of the ship and jumped into the water, the other five senshi behind her.

Minako swam in the front of the group, her entire body glowing with an orangey gold light as she illuminated the sea for her partners. Ami and Michiru followed her, the two water senshi completely at ease in their element and both of them much faster swimmers than their warrior lovers. Makoto, Rei, and Haruka followed as closely as they could, struggling to move through the water quickly and concentrating on using their power to keep the pressure of the water overhead from injuring or killing them. The sea was over five hundred feet deep in the center, and Haruka could believe that the cave they were looking for was in the very middle of the vast sea. She stared at the darkness beneath her and worried about the darkness above her, hoping that they hit the seafloor soon and found a cave with air.

It seemed that some god was listening to her prayers. The group finally reached the floor of the Coral Sea, Minako's light attracting hundreds of small fish that were used to complete darkness. Michiru looked at her keystone at the end of the chain as it floated in front of her face, the blue light strong and steady. She pointed forward and the group moved, staying as close as they could to Minako. The bright light illuminated a small cave entrance against a tall underwater cliff, and Michiru indicated that the group should move into the dark cavern.

They swam through a short channel and emerged into a huge cave with light beaming down on them from overhead. Minako pointed at the light and swam up, the other five women just behind her. The pressure against their shields was gone, indicating that there was only a few feet of water overhead, so none of them were surprised to emerge from the water into a huge, empty cave with light shining down on them from something overhead. Minako swam to the edge of the water and pulled herself onto a shale beach, waving her hand overhead in a silent question. Ami knew what her leader was asking for, so she pulled out her computer and ran a quick atmospheric scan on the air trapped in the underwater cave. Nodding in approval of her computer's results, Ami removed her breather mask and hooked it to the belt of her wetsuit, taking a deep breath of the oddly sweet air.

"How could there be breathable air in a cave underwater?" Haruka removed her mask, as well, but the blonde was clearly less happy about it.

"Most of the oxygen on this planet comes from algae and plankton," Ami replied, leaning down to scan the water. "This water is full of it because of the light overhead."

"What's causing the light?"

Michiru glanced at the ceiling, noting that the sources of the light seemed to be moving and that the spectrum was not consistent across the entire ceiling. "Illuma Beetles," she replied, turning her attention to the walls of the cave in search of an exit. "They use their bioluminescence to attract mates and prey, but it is odd to find a colony underwater. I imagine someone transplanted a pregnant queen here long ago to create light for the algae and in turn keep the air in this cave oxygenated."

"Then you think this is the cave where your crystal is hidden?"

"It has to be, Rei. Why else would the Illuma Beetles be here? They aren't even native to Larissa. Oh, there it is." She pointed at a hole in the cave wall partially hidden in shadows, taking off her flippers and leading the other senshi toward it. Thankfully, the shale was smooth and gentle on bare feet, so they made it across to the doorway without incident. They climbed a short flight of smooth stairs carved into the rock and emerged onto a shelf overlooking another cavern, one devoid of water but still filled with Illuma Beetles glowing from the ceiling.

"Wow," Minako breathed, blue eyes wide in amazement at the treasures spread beneath them. The cavern was filled with jewelry, precious metals, and gemstones from every planet in the system, the wealth below them a rival for even the Neptunian and Venusian Royal Treasuries. The slender blonde headed for the stairs leading to the lower level, stopped by Michiru's insistent hand on her arm.

"Venusian," she reminded the younger woman; "and do not touch _anything_ in here. This is Poseidon's treasure; worse, it is also Amphitrite's. The queen of the seas would not take kindly to interlopers in her private vault."

"Is it safe to be here?"

Michiru turned to Rei and grinned, shaking her head. "For you, of course not. For me, it is a haven. Here is one of the seats of my god's power; if I wish to speak to him, I can call from here. If the Planet Crystal is anywhere, this treasury would be the place."

Haruka sighed and gestured for the other senshi to follow her wife into the lower level of the treasury proper. The aquanette summoned her mirror, whispering a command to it as she focused her power on her Planet Crystal. They passed towers of gold, waterfalls of silver, and mountains of raw gems before entering a second room. Smaller than the first cavern, the second cave had reflective walls, mirrors to illuminate the splendor of the cut gems covering most of the floor, the largest ones sitting on pillars to emphasize their beauty. Haruka pointed at a huge, palm-sized aquamarine, the facets forming waves that seemed to move in the mirrors behind it. "It seems that you come by your narcissism honestly, my love."

"Hush, you," Michiru murmured, the faintest blush staining her cheeks. "I'm not in the least bit narcissistic."

"Your talisman is a mirror," Rei replied flatly, admiring a heart-shaped ruby hanging against the wall as the group moved deeper into the cave.

"Yes, a mirror that should be showing me my planet crystal." Her annoyance leaked into her cultured voice as Michiru stopped in the center of the room, teal eyes narrowed in annoyance. "There must be a way to locate the crystal."

"Michiru, tell us about your previous incarnation."

"Excuse me?"

Ami shrugged and waved her hand in a circle. "This treasury had to be a place that Yuuka loved, if she is anything like you. She probably came here to talk with Poseidon and Amphitrite, and she certainly was an artist like you. Perhaps if we can understand her, we can determine the method for locating your crystal."

Michiru found a section of reflective wall not covered in gems and leaned against it, staring into her mirror. "I suppose that could help. I imagine Haruka has told you about how my power works."

"She says you mirror your opponent," Rei replied, waving one hand in Minako's vague direction. "When you were fighting Minako, she explained that you can copy someone's emotions and desires as well as their moves."

"I can, but it's something more than that. Yuuka . . . she found another facet of the Sailor Neptune powers. Her story is quite amazing, actually. In her time, Neptunians were only really known for their pacifism, but not much else. Yuuka wanted more for us, for my world, so she left for a tour of the system when she was a princess. She went to Mercury to learn the mechanical processes of music, art, and dancing before spending months on Venus learning the arts themselves. She became best friends with Minami, who taught her how to paint and dance, and some her masterpieces still hang in our museums to this day. She went to Mars and introduced Minami to Reiko, and there she learned ancient fire dancing. She went to Jupiter and traveled with the tribes of Ganymede through the forests, seeing things she could never have experienced among the moons of Neptune."

"What did she learn from Nao?" Haruka's green eyes were even more intense in the strangely lit room, but something in her tone made Michiru pause.

"I don't know," Michiru whispered, twisting her mirror in her hand in contemplation. She furrowed her brow as she realized that she had no answer for her wife. "The records get a bit vague after Jupiter. We know that she went to Uranus but we don't know what she learned there."

"You know," Haruka replied, reaching out and touching her long fingers to the surface of the Deep Aqua Mirror. "You have the same power Rei has, though possibly a bit more unpredictable. You and I are soul mates, my heart, so whatever is hiding your stone must be related to what Yuuka learned from Nao."

Michiru nodded and closed her eyes, concentrating on her talisman and the warm golden pulsing of Haruka's soul next to hers. For just a moment, she felt something . . . a splash of water against her mind and then . . . she knew. Her eyes flew open, teal swirling among seas of sapphire, and Haruka smiled. "I saw it. Nao was a warrior of the highest caliber, but she was also master of musical instruments, and Yuuka was intrigued. She played the piano, the harp . . . she taught Yuuka how to play the violin."

"Your favorite instrument," Haruka pointed out. "You're a master at it."

Michiru nodded and pushed herself away from the wall, leading the group through the cave and into the next one. She smiled at the beautiful jeweled instruments filling the chamber, glancing at Makoto as the Jovian chuckled. "You didn't need to bother looking into your mirror at all, Michiru. If we had just kept moving, you could have guessed the unlocking mechanism. There's a violin, if that's your instrument of choice."

"It is," Michiru replied, holding one hand above the white-wood instrument decorated with tiny aquamarines; "but I can't just pick it up. This treasure is booby trapped in the worst way and the last thing we need right now is to be dead. I think . . . I think I can sing to the violin so that it will accept me." She closed her eyes and thought back to her childhood, to an ancient song that had been passed down through her family for dozens of generations. She took a breath and began to sing, her voice wavering for a moment in shock as Haruka's voice joined hers. She hadn't expected her wife to know an ancient Neptunian song.

" _Is it the blowing lilac wind that beckons us?_

_Or is it the violin among the misty waters?_

_Dreams, in this troubled, frivolous world_

_Bloom with a single cut from a flower's sword"_

The violin started to glow as Michiru looked up, tilting her head at Haruka curiously. "How do you know that song?"

Haruka shrugged at the light intensified. "I've always known it. When I was little, I remember a woman singing it to me. I think it was Hikari, but I've never asked."

"It's an old song passed down through my royal line. I don't know why our worlds would share a song as . . . haunting as _The Last Betrayal_."

The light from the violin faded as the traps around it disintegrated. Michiru smiled as she reached down to pick up the instrument and the bow lying nearby. Raising the violin to her chin, she lifted the bow and let it touch the silvery strings, her audience releasing a sigh of awe at the beautiful sound it produced. Her tune was short and significantly less mournful than _The Last Betrayal_ , but it seemed to have the desired effect. The other instruments in the room began to resonate with the violin, copying and amplifying its song, until a new, sweeter sound joined in, Michiru pausing her bow mid-note. A pale blue spot of light appeared on the table where the violin had recently rested, darkening to aquamarine with blue and white striations, growing until the aqua colored Sea Melody Crystal solidified before her. Lowering the violin, Michiru reached for the crystal in triumph, smiling as she held it out for her companions to see.

The group of women jumped back in shock as a deep sapphire and teal light filled the room, fading to reveal a tall, slender woman with long, wavy hair the color of the sea and skin the color of pearls. Her sapphire eyes focused on Michiru instantly, the willowy woman stepping forward and placing a hand on the Neptunian's cheek. "Yuuka."

"Michiru," the smaller woman corrected, twirling her stone in her hand. "I was her. I was Yuuka in my last life."

The woman nodded and stepped back, casting her gaze across each of the senshi in turn. "I recognize all of you. I didn't think you would be reborn for centuries yet."

"Who are you?" Haruka's tone was light and inquisitive, but Michiru could hear the implicit threat hovering below the surface. The blonde's arm slipped around her waist and pulled her away from the strange woman, but the stranger only laughed.

"Still so possessive, Nao? Uranus tells me that you are called Haruka in this life." She turned to the violin and ran her fingers over the white wood, smiling as the instrument glowed at her touch. "I would think you would know who I am. This is Poseidon's world and his treasury; who else would know this place except the patron god of Neptune and his wife?"

"Amphitrite?"

"Of course. I heard you play; it was beautiful. When Yuuka used to play for me, it was nice, but she lacked true discipline. You've been playing your whole life; I can tell. I wanted to know why you were playing, though, which is what called me here. I also want to know how you broke the seal on this instrument, since Yuuka herself set it."

"I remembered," Michiru replied, leaning into Haruka's embrace. The Uranian was still tense, and she hoped that her touch could calm her wife. "She would sing to the violin so that it would recognize her."

"What did you sing?"

"An ancient Neptunian song called _The Last Betrayal_."

Amphitrite froze at the words, shaking her head imperceptibly as tears filled her eyes. "I can't believe that the song survived. There were only a handful of us there that day . . . I don't know which god would pass that down."

"A handful of you where? Haruka knows the song, too, but I do not, despite my studies in foreign cultures. Why is that song unique to Uranus and Neptune?" Ami, always the scholar, had already typed the song into her computer and received no results, so she was more determined than ever to learn the origin of the tune.

Amphitrite shook her head and turned away, her long hair obscuring her face. "Are you gathering your planet crystals?"

"Yes," Ami answered, clearly surprised by the question.

"How many do you have?"

"All of them except mine," Haruka answered, already understanding what the goddess was hinting at. "You're saying that the song has something to do with what happened on Uranus when Nao and Yuuka died?"

"They were hiding something, that last day. Uranus knew it, but she could never see into Nao's heart, and Yuuka wouldn't speak to Poseidon. On that last day, when they told the other senshi that death was the only option, they knew that it wasn't true."

"What are you talking about? We saw the visions from Mars and Jupiter, and Uranus told me that it had been Nao's decision for the senshi to die. We already know that it was a hard one to make, but that was the way it had to be."

"But that's not true," Amphitrite replied, glancing up through her curtain of hair. "My husband could feel the turmoil in Yuuka's soul, and she was always so collected, so perfectly calm in the face of the worst danger. Uranus said that, on that last day, Nao's soul was screaming, and she was always the bravest and strongest of the senshi. They knew something, they knew where the other path would lead, but they chose death. That song . . . why do you think they named it _The Last Betrayal_? Reiko, Minami, Chieko, and Mariya accepted their explanation without question, but Uranus demanded that Nao tell her the truth. She wouldn't, but she hinted that there had been two choices and that she hated them both."

"What are we going to find on Miranda?"

"Nothing you want to know, Haruka. Nothing that should ever be found. Please, don't go; don't look into that final darkness in Nao's soul."

"We have to. We need all of the Planet Crystals and only Nao knows how to activate them. I have to get that information."

Amphitrite turned around, wiping the tears from her eyes before reaching out and embracing Haruka, the act clearly surprising the blonde senshi. She turned to Michiru and embraced her, as well, kissing her husband's avatar on the cheek as a mother would her child. "You two will not be the same after you leave Miranda. You will know the ultimate betrayal that has plagued your souls between lives, but I hope that you are strong enough to survive. The gods do not agree that you need your planet crystals, and I don't think that Uranus's visions of the future are always correct, but you have the right to choose your own path. Poseidon will be sorry to have missed you, but the patron gods have gathered today to discuss some time knot thing that Hades's daughter saw. When you find the last crystal and are ready to activate them, remember that the gods are the ones who sealed their powers." She vanished in a shower of blue glitter, leaving the six senshi standing in an empty room, her words leaving them all feeling uneasy.

"What do you think she meant by that last bit?"

Minako glanced up at her soul mate's question. _"If the gods locked the powers of our planets away, who but the gods could release it?"_

"That's not it, at least not completely," Haruka replied, running her fingers through her hair. "The patron gods cannot directly affect anything in this realm, including our planet crystals. They were only involved because our past selves forced a situation, used their emotions against them. I think . . . what she said makes sense. Uranus said something similar, something that will lead me to the unlocking mechanism. I just need to see Nao's last memories."

"If what Amphitrite said is true, you won't like what you see on Miranda."

"I know, Makoto, but I have to go. I'm a warrior; I can't be scared off by a hauntingly sad song and tears from a god. We have to go there."

Minako nodded in agreement, freezing as her talisman pulsed in the back of her mind. The other senshi understood the fear in her pale blue eyes without the need for words, all of them transforming instantly and vanishing from the underwater cave.

They appeared beside their princess, Serenity staring at her computer screen in shock. A message with the flashing red border of urgency took up most of her screen, smaller messages scrolling across faster than the senshi could read them. Most of the smaller messages had yellow borders, but a few of them were also red. Something had happened, something important enough to be broadcast to every computer console in the Silver Millennium. Minako's talisman, having responded to Serenity's shock and fear, returned to its owner gratefully as Haruka leaned forward to read.

"No, it can't be."

"What?"

"The Sixth War Queen of Uranus, Yasuda Mari, is dead," Serenity whispered. "In the hour between her death and this announcement, seven factions have formed among the remaining War Queens, Lesser War Queens, and Lower Chiefs, each of them blaming someone different for her death. The Uranian ships have begun firing on each other from their stations throughout the system, and unrest is tearing through the capital."

"Blaming? Who is there to blame? Haruka, how can your people have already started to fight when she's only died an hour ago?"

"Uranians are slow to anger, but we can hold onto our fury for years," Haruka replied, staring at the screen. She had known when she saw Mari at the council meeting that the old War Queen was very old and very ill, but clearly the rest of her people would not easily believe that a celebrated warrior could simply die of old age. "They are simply avenging old grudges and using Mari's death as an excuse. This kind of behavior is common when War Queens die, but usually the Queen and the Council can contain any violent outbursts. I have to return and calm my people, especially with all of my fleets and War Queens scattered throughout the system. Rei and Makoto, call your parents and request that they immediately dispatch all of their available warships to help calm the factions. You two will come with me to help subdue the captains and Lesser War Queens who are instigating the violence while Michiru, Minako, and Ami will take Princess Serenity and all of our luggage to Ono Hikari's palace. Her children will watch over you until I arrive on Oberon."

"Can't you just signal all of the ships and order them to stop fighting?"

Haruka snorted as the other senshi gathered their luggage in preparation for a teleport. "If only it were that simple, Serenity. Once we start fighting, only a stronger opponent can snap us out of our rage. We don't all have that convenient Lunarian oath and a princess to help us calm down. I'm not even the queen, yet, so I have to prove to these warriors that I am capable of leading them before they will obey a cease fire order. You will be safe with Hikari's children, Serenity, I promise. It should only take us a few hours to settle this unrest and return to Oberon."

"Ruka . . . according to these reports, every fleet is in an uproar. Do you have enough power to attempt that many teleports?"

The blonde turned to her wife, running her long fingers through Michiru's aqua hair in a comforting gesture. "Rei and Makoto will be there. Pyro and Thunder here always have energy to spare, so don't worry too much about us. Come on, we have to go. I have a civil war to prevent."

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **AN:** Also this chapter is super long (first one over 10k!), but I didn't want to stop before getting to Mari's death. Before you wonder, I did plan to have her die from the beginning, because I need to switch out the Sixth War Queen. The song, if you were wondering, is _"Orleans no Sei Senshi ~ Uranus – Neptune no Uragiri"_ from the First Stage musical _Eien Densetsu_ and it is the song Ura  & Nep sing after they accept Galaxia's bracelets. There are probably a dozen different translations of the last two lines, and the one from musicalmoon is by far the worst. I used Cruel Angel's translation for the most part, but I changed the last line a bit because I think everyone is simply missing a word that changes the feel of the song. Here's the original song if anyone thinks they have a better translation (seriously, if you do PM me because I have been agonizing over this for three days):
> 
> リラの風吹く 招いか
> 
> おぼろ水面の ヴィヨロンか
> 
> 夢よ 惑いの従し世に
> 
> 咲きし 一振り 花の剣
> 
> I'm not including the furigana for any of the kanji because the song uses non-standard pronunciations, so it wouldn't help you. There's consistency in the translation of the first two lines, but the second two are all over the place.


	26. Stormy Skies

**Chapter 26: Stormy Skies**

* * *

_February 27, 8983 – February 28, 8983_

* * *

"What is their position now?"

"The Third Fleet has retreated behind Ganymede for now. The Jovian battleships have withdrawn to protect Io, and Saitou Kai's ships have cut off three of our capital ships near Europa. The ships will be captured in short order."

"This doesn't look good," the captain commented, glancing at the report. "Have we had any contact from War Queen Nishina Yuri on Io?"

"None. The Jovian Royal Guard refuses to disclose her location and we can't get a stealth squad past their defenses to retrieve her."

"Then we must take more drastic action. Contact War Queen Takeda Keiko and apprise her of the situation; once she brings her fleets into Jupiter orbit, we will attack the capital and retrieve our War Queen."

"You will do no such thing." The husky voice brought silence to the bridge of the huge battleship, every Uranian reacting automatically to the power and the threat in those six words. The captain turned, eyebrow raised, and faced the intruder, glancing at her white and gold accented navy armor, noting her short blonde hair and brilliant emerald eyes before turning away. She had to be a daughter of one of the other War Queens, a high noble woman certainly, but hardly worth her time. Her _sajink_ seemed very strong. Standing on either side of her, she recognized a Martian and a Jovian, each woman clad in the traditional armor style of her planet but neither of them a threat to a ship full of Uranian warriors.

"And who are you to order me around on my own ship?"

The blonde grinned and drew her sword from a heavily jeweled hilt hanging from her belt, a collective gasp passing through the other warriors on the bridge as every Uranian hit one knee. They might not know her face, but they certainly recognized that glowing golden sword. The captain turned slowly and stared at the taller blonde, the tip of a very familiar weapon pointed at her throat. "P-princess?"

The blonde smirked, sheathing her sword as she strode past the frozen captain and grabbed the data pad she had been reading. "Let me guess; Saitou Kai has put herself forward as the next Sixth, and Nishina Yuri opposed her? Why did Yuri go down to Io if her fleet is fighting Kai's?"

"Saitou Kai jammed all communications within the Jupiter system, so the War Queen took a small ship to the capital to apprise Queen Meika of the situation and ask for her help. The Jovian fleet was deployed, but Kai scattered them and they withdrew to Io."

The princess nodded as her two companions joined her at the control panel. The captain realized that they had to be her partner princesses from the other warrior planets, Rei of Mars and Makoto of Jupiter. "We have to stop Saitou Kai and her fleet. Rei, I need you to identify which ship is carrying my errant Lesser War Queen."

"How?"

Haruka turned to her friend, head tilted slightly at the redhead's question. "Michiru says you have the ability to see things in the fire like she can see in her mirror. You should be able to find Kai through fire-reading."

Rei sighed and nodded, staring out at the three small moons filling the viewscreen. "Yes, perhaps. I need a fire, however."

Haruka glanced over her shoulder at the captain, raising one eyebrow. "Find her a fire. I need to know which ship to target."

"What about our War Queen? The Jovian Royal Guard refuses to let us land and retrieve her as long as Saitou Kai's fleet threatens their system."

"I'll take care of that," Makoto announced, raising her henshin stick to the sky. Sailor Jupiter vanished moments later, heading for the planet and her palace to retrieve the Fifth War Queen. Rei turned to follow the captain, leaving Haruka alone with her reports.

* * *

"Anything?"

Rei shook her head, staring into the depths of the fire as she tried desperately to _see_ her opponent, but the fire refused to divulge any secrets. The more she pushed, the more her power seemed to resist. "I can't focus enough."

"When Martian priestesses use fire-gazing, how do they focus their mind?"

Rei shrugged, glancing up at the Uranian princess. "I think . . . they chant."

"Do you know the chant?"

Rei shook her head. "No, but I don't think it matters what words you use, as long as you can focus your mind. I'll try using one of the chants I learned years ago during my endurance training."

Haruka nodded and stepped back, leaning against the wall with a guard on either side. The captain had assigned her an escort, despite her protests, and the silent guards were determined to protect her against anyone on the ship that might be Kai's supporters. Rei began to whisper, her eyes closed as she templed her fingers before her chest and focused her will on the flames before her. As the Martian chanted, her voice barely audible over the crackle of the fire, Haruka sensed a buildup of power before her. She had been the only one to recognize the strength of Minako's power on Io, and she wondered if the age of her goddess gave her the ability to sense the flow of senshi power. That could come in handy, if it turned out to be true.

The fire began to flicker, growing toward the ceiling as Rei's voice softened. An image appeared in the flames, a cluster of heavily armored ships, and Haruka leaned forward as all but one disappeared. "That's the one," Rei whispered as the fire died, smiling up at her friend. "That's where your dissident is."

Haruka nodded and reached down, helping Rei to her feet as she nodded toward her two guards. "Mars and I will teleport over to _The Hidden Blade_ and find Kai. Gather a group of warriors and follow us in fighters. The idea is to prevent bloodshed, but you have permission to use force if necessary."

"Understood."

The two women, tall and imposing in their black and gold armor, nodded sharply, leaving the room as Haruka and Rei transformed and vanished.

* * *

Nishina Yuri leaned against the console on the bridge of her flagship with her long arms crossed nonchalantly, watching her princess in action. She narrowed her greenish hazel eyes as Saitou Kai shook her head defiantly at Haruka's demands, refusing to disband her small fleet even under orders from her princess. After retrieving the Lesser War Queen and disabling her ships, Haruka had brought Kai to Yuri's flagship just in time to meet Makoto returning from Io with the War Queen herself.

"I am Yasuda Mari's third cousin on her mother's side and I have a right to her seat!"

"You have a right to nothing when you attack one of my War Queens while on guard duty in a time of peace," Haruka replied, her voice soft but full of steel. She was tiring of the argument, and the two princesses by her side were clearly even more annoyed than she was. "Because of you and other Lesser War Queens, I have not even had time to go to Uranus and properly mourn the loss of my Sixth War Queen. I'm out here, trying to prevent a civil war, and I couldn't care less who has the seat when this is over."

"Then you'll give it to me."

"I'll _give_ it to no one," Haruka growled, leaning forward and grabbing the front of Kai's shirt, stormy eyes almost glowing in the artificial light. "As is tradition when a War Queen dies without an heir, every eligible titled noble woman may compete for Mari's seat, including you. If you expect to be present for that fight, however, I suggest you stop arguing with me, redeploy your ships as I ordered before the meeting on Titan, and take yourself peacefully home to await my return. Do I make myself clear?"

Saitou Kai nodded, only just realizing that Haruka was easily four inches taller than her and much, much more powerful. "Forgive me, Princess," Kai whispered, "for causing such trouble. I will redeploy my ships under Nishina Yuri's command and return to Oberon for the contest."

"Good. Leave." Haruka stood perfectly still until the Lesser War Queen had been escorted from the bridge, relaxing as soon as the older woman was gone. "There aren't words for how much I hate politics."

"I'm pretty sure that's half your job as Queen," Rei returned, grinning as she glanced out the viewscreen at the planet swirling gently beneath them. "So this should have been the last uprising we had to contain, correct?"

"How many others were there?" Yuri asked, stepping forward. "I heard about one of the Lesser Chiefs attacking Taichen Laira's fleet near the Sun."

Haruka waved her hand dismissively. "That was a minor skirmish. Laira happens to be dating one of the Mercurian Duchesses, so Queen Amami scrambled every war ship she had to Laira's defense, which was, surprisingly, quite a large number despite her planet's history of peace. Murata Ayumi's cousin Natako attacked the battleships near Venus when Ayumi refused to sponsor her for the Sixth Seat, but I was able to remove Natako from her ship and explain to her that I would not accept her bid if she insisted on fighting my War Queens. Hikari had no problem with her children, even though three of them have expressed interest in the empty seat, but Takeda Keiko was nearly killed when her warship was ambushed by the combined forces of three Lower Chiefs. Oreshi Tagae was killed in the counterattack, and I demoted the other two chiefs involved. I don't think they anticipated the fury that Keiko's Saturnian family could express. Tomoko managed to keep peace among her daughters and nieces above Neptune, for which I am grateful since the Queen of that world has been less than welcoming to my warriors and I had no interest in visiting her to explain a firefight in her skies. The Second Fleet got into a huge battle with the Seventh over Pluto, but Setsuna decided to make an appearance, helping Hiroko subdue the captains and end the fighting. From her initial report, there were no casualties thanks to Setsuna's foreknowledge about the coming violence."

"What about the ships over Mars?"

"Kimura Sanae was injured when the captain on her capital ship declared herself the next Sixth War Queen, but the bridge officers protected their War Queen. I collected the other five captains in her fleet and offered them a chance to declare their loyalty to her or die at the tip of my sword. They all chose life. Now that I've calmed the fighting everywhere else, I must return to Oberon and announce the rules for succession, hopefully ending the rest of the violence. I must admit that I am a little tired after all this teleporting."

Yuri nodded, brushing her long red hair over her shoulder before turning to her console and examining her own troop deployments. "How much energy does it take for you to teleport, Princess?"

"Yuri, please call me Haruka. I don't have time for all of these formalities among my War Queens. Until today, we have been restricting ourselves to three teleports a day, and we always travel in a group, which is much easier than solo teleports. We've done over two dozen today, and I'm not sure how many more trips we can make."

"Please be careful, then, on your last teleport. I will return as soon as you announce the contest for the Sixth Seat."

"Just keep your troops in line until then. I never want to have to quell an uprising like this again."

* * *

"How are they doing?"

"Tired," Michiru replied, staring into the depths of her mirror. "They've used a lot of power to teleport, and Haruka is worried that she's pushed them too far. It's not easy for three headstrong warriors to let their barriers down long enough to combine their power like they've been doing today, and they've done it over two dozen times."

"Why did she pick Rei and Makoto, then? She had to have known."

"She did, Serenity," Minako answered, staring out the window at Hikari's gardens spread across the landscape. Serenity's lesson's in Venusian were not advanced enough for Minako to be comfortable speaking to her in that language when the subject matter was so important. "She was hoping to use this as another training exercise. No matter what happens or where we are, any two or three senshi should be able to teleport together. Ami, Michiru, and I had no problem with that since we are all from peaceful races and are generally better at getting along than Jovians, Martians, and especially Uranians. I hope this test doesn't drain her too much."

"She will be fine."

The four princesses looked up in shock at the soft voice, staring at the intruder as if they had no breeding or manners at all. Setsuna smiled and took a seat on the couch opposite Minako, her dark green and crimson dress far less depressing than her usual attire, Time Key conspicuously absent. "You're surprised to see me." The Queen of Pluto did not bother to phrase it as a question.

"Very," Ami admitted. "Not to be indelicate, or any more rude than we have been to stare at you like that, but why are you here?"

"Haruka wants me here," Setsuna replied simply. "She has to quell the uprising here on Oberon when she returns from her ships, and she thinks that my presence will help." The dark queen turned toward the window and looked out at the golden sky, smiling gently. "And Yasuda Mari was my friend, too. She fought beside us in the battles on Pluto all those years ago, protecting me after Kazeko assigned her to be my personal guard during that bloody final battle. Without her, I would have died and my rebirth might not have occurred in time to affect the current crisis. I should be here to honor her memory."

" _Sometimes I forget that you're one of us; that you fought the darkness and lost your friends just as we stand to lose ours,"_ Minako admitted, switching back to speaking Venusian as per Michiru's training suggestion. She hoped that Serenity would forgive her for switching back to a language she only vaguely understood. Her words carried no emotion, and Setsuna raised her eyebrow at the oddity of a Venusian speaking without betraying her heart.

"Haruka never forgets," the older woman replied, smiling as she remembered that brave blonde girl determined to make a good impression on the Moon all those years ago. "Ever since the day of Serenity's Presentation, she has looked for me to stand with her against threats from outside the Solar System, as is proper for the Outer Senshi."

"And will you be standing with us?" Michiru's question was soft, but her teal eyes were serious. Setsuna nodded, and the younger princess smiled. "Good."

The five women looked up as a brilliant gold-red-green light filled the large sitting room, fading to reveal their missing team members. The three warrior senshi detransformed as soon as the light faded, Haruka turning to Setsuna with a smirk on her face. "I guess wishing for you does make you appear."

Setsuna shook her head, smiling in that secret way she had perfected over the last ten thousand years. "No, but I always hear when someone needs me. I knew that the ships you sent to guard my world would attack each other when Mari died, so I solved that problem for you and came here, knowing that you wanted me to be part of your senshi team. I'm glad to see that you managed to get the rest of your Lower Chiefs and Lesser War Queens to fall into line."

"Yes, they are back under control of the War Queens. I never expected Yasuda Mari to die, no matter how sick she has been, but I was expecting an uprising of some sort just before my return, so I was mostly prepared."

"Your people are born warriors, Haruka. You can never forget that their first instinct will always be violence, even more so than a Jovian's or a Martian's. If you plan to be a good queen, find a way to make them see and respect your strength."

"I have a way. That's why I wanted you here."

* * *

"And all of the fighting is on Oberon?"

"Not all of it," Haruka replied, glancing down at her blonde princess before turning back to the tiled courtyard before her. Behind them, the huge, ornate gates to Miranda Palace were closed, locked and guarded against the rioting horde that still filled the streets of the capital. According to the news reports from the other moons, every major city was in the midst of one of the bloodiest post-War Queen death civil uprisings seen in the last five thousand years; the lack of a sitting queen had left the people confused and angry enough to start killing each other. "If we can quiet the fighting on Oberon, the other moons will calm down, as well, since all of their leaders are certainly here. After we begin, I will analyze our power levels and see if we can push our solution to the other moons without hurting ourselves. Everyone, transform!"

The seven senshi, each woman holding her powerful talisman, formed a half-circle in front of Serenity, the petite princess watching her warriors anxiously. What Haruka was planning had sounded insane an hour ago, and it didn't sound any better standing before a shuttered palace with the harsh wind tearing at the skirts of their uniforms. Sailor Uranus, standing in the center as the focal point, raised her sword to the sky and waited, emerald eyes filled with power. On her right side, Neptune raised her mirror, aqua strands of her power swirling around her slender form while her talisman glowed anxiously. Jupiter planted the foot of her staff in the ground, green lightning crackling around her tall form, and Pluto raised her Time Key to the stormy sky, dark black and crimson energy cloaking her dark form.

On Uranus's left side, Venus wrapped her chain around her waist and arm, holding her fist out as light enveloped her. Mars raised her bow, no arrow present, and smiled as a tongue of flame danced along her arm. Mercury held her harp to the sky, ice covering her hand and arm while the ground at her feet developed a thin coat of frost. Behind Uranus, protected in the center of the arrow her senshi had formed, Serenity reached out and placed a hand on her protector's shoulder, closing her eyes to access that strange catalyzing power she had tapped into on Jupiter. Grateful for the extra help, Uranus took a deep, steadying breath before releasing her power into the clouds overhead. Six more beams of brilliantly colored light followed hers into the sky, and the lazy clouds overhead suddenly changed. A crack of thunder pealed across the land, lightning reaching from the clouds to the ground followed instantly by salty rain and sleet. The wind screamed across the dry ground, diving into the buildings of the towns and tearing at the battling mortals, halting their weapons as the rain chilled them to the bone.

Darkness followed the wind, cloaking the ground like a malevolent mist, whispering dark promises as it filled the streets and buildings, frightening the warring Uranians into dropping their weapons and running away, toward the palace and the brilliant orangey gold light illuminating the courtyard there. Fire flowed from the heavy clouds like lava, reaching almost to the roofs of the buildings despite the torrential rain, but it stopped just short of touching the flammable structures. As their city filled with darkness, rain and ice pelting them from above, wind tearing at their clothes and threatening to slam them into buildings, and the sky on fire, the citizens of the Oberonian capital did the only thing they could. They ran toward Minako's light, toward the only safe place they could see.

"Is it working?"

"Yes," Pluto replied, using her dark mist to push the crowd out of the city faster. It was not the largest town on Oberon, just a small home for all of the political leaders and war leaders away from their mansions and estates, but hundreds of thousands of people had converged on the ornate buildings to fight over the fate of the Sixth Seat, swelling the population well past its normal size. "The storm has enveloped this entire moon, and people are running for the safe spots marked by Venus's light, to places where they will see you when we begin the broadcast. We have enough power to copy this storm on the other three moons."

Uranus glanced over her shoulder at Serenity, but the young princess smiled and nodded. She had plenty of strength left, and she would be able to help them duplicate their storm on the other three inhabited moons. "Let's do it."

Over the next few hours, as the fearsome storm raged across Oberon, Titania, Ariel, and Umbriel, billions of people huddled in the safe havens marked by Venus's beams of light, staring at each other in fear as they waited for the end of their world. In the history of the Silver Millennium, there had never been a storm so violent and strange, filled with so many elements. In the skies of the moons, Uranus glowed an angry gold, none of her normal blue-green color visible behind her rings, and the people feared that their god was displeased and had chosen to destroy them all. Their wars forgotten, they huddled together and prayed to Uranus to save them, messages flying out to every ship in their fleet from people resigned to death.

When every last weapon was discarded, when every last person from the capital city knelt in the huge courtyard before her, Uranus lowered her sword and let the storms die. Weary but oddly enervated, the other senshi also released their powers, Serenity smiling as she let the link between herself and her warriors fade. She did not understand her own power, but she was glad that she could help.

Uranus stepped forward, sheathing her sword as Venus's light faded. No longer blinded, the people of Oberon looked up, Mercury activating the news cameras floating nearby and the holo screens at every gathering point across the four moons. She overrode the local news outlets and the broadcast feeds to the scattered fleets, making sure that every Uranian had their eyes focused on their blonde princess. A gasp of shock went up from the gathered crowd, and those few people who had stood immediately returned to their knees, supplicating themselves before their princess who resembled both her mother and their beloved goddess. As soon as the people's shock had faded, Uranus began to speak.

"People of Uranus, I am ashamed of you. I have been gone for only a month, and you have let yourself fall into civil war. The death of a War Queen is a time of grief, not a time to settle old scores! I cannot have a divided world when a great darkness threatens the entire Silver Millennium. You must set aside your differences and trust that I, your Princess, daughter of Queen Kazeko, will solve the problem of the empty Sixth Seat. On the next _Traskius_ Moon, I will accept the Crown and become Queen, and until then I expect you to obey the War Queens without question."

Michiru watched her wife standing there, glowing with the strength of her planet's power, and she felt the urge to drop her jaw in shock. She was far too well-bred for that, but she had never felt so amazed by a single person in her life. Haruka was the perfect queen for a planet full of untamed but powerful warriors, and she would rule them well. One-by-one, the nobles and commoners alike bowed their heads, recognizing Haruka not as their princess but as their queen, silently promising to follow and obey her as they had her mother over twenty years earlier. The senshi relaxed, sensing that the danger was behind them, that these Uranians would no longer pose a threat to them or to the rest of the Silver Millennium.

* * *

"That went better than I expected."

Haruka snorted and glanced at Setsuna through her messy blonde bangs, emerald eyes dancing with amusement. "Uranians are a strange breed, and some of our customs give the false impression that we are wild, untamed creatures. That couldn't be farther from the truth. In point of fact, my people respect authority more than any other people in the system, but when they lack a strong, visible leader, they tend toward unfettered violence. As soon as they realized that I was strong enough to force them to submit, they willingly obeyed me. There will be no more fighting among my people, I can assure you."

"I'm still amazed by what we were able to accomplish," Ami murmured, staring at the data her computer had collected while their storm raged across the four moons. "There are no records of senshi combining their powers as we did."

"They never could before," Setsuna replied, finally beginning to understand the strength of her fellow warriors after merging her power with theirs. "The elements that each senshi can channel are natural enemies, so usually only two or three senshi can cooperate long enough to overcome that restriction. However, Serenity's unique catalyst ability has allowed us to combine our powers in ways that have never been seen in my ten thousand years, and I admit to being fascinated by the entire experience."

"Why do I have such a strange power? No Moon Royal has ever had such a gift before, not even the few that were able to transform into Sailor Moon."

Setsuna shrugged her shoulders, knowing that she could never truly answer the young princess's question. She knew, deep in her soul, the source of Serenity's power, but if she ever let herself speak the truth out loud, both of them would suffer the consequences. "I'm not sure, but the few princesses who became senshi did so during times of great stress and each of them had a unique ability tied to their heritage and to the dangers of their time. Perhaps you have this gift because it is the one you need to have."

Serenity stared at Setsuna, light blue eyes narrowed in contemplation as she tried to decide if the dark queen was hiding something from her. Haruka turned away from the other senshi and stared at Setsuna, shocked that she could almost _see_ the turmoil in the older woman's soul, knowing instantly that Serenity's curiosity was the problem. The blonde knew that she might never understand her fellow senshi, but the least she could do was help the godling protect her secrets.

"If you have such a strange power, the best thing you can do is practice it." Haruka smiled as the young princess glanced up at her, breaking the tableau between Setsuna and Serenity and easing the tension in the room. "After a new Sixth War Queen is chosen, we will get back to senshi training and let you exercise your powers, as well."

* * *

"How does this work? There are no records of how War Queens are chosen."

Haruka shrugged as Minako adjusted her golden dress, Rei offering the taller warrior a selection of tiaras and jewelry. The blonde had chosen to appear before her War Queens as her mother would have, in a dress, and the other princesses had jumped at the chance to make her beautiful. "There's a good reason for that, Ami. Every selection is different. When the dead War Queen has a daughter or even a niece with the appropriate titles and honor, she is simply appointed to the empty chair by the Council. In this particular case, the Council found no clear line of succession and declined to appoint a new War Queen, leaving the choice to me. In a case like this, any eligible woman of good breeding with the _Kazemaru_ title and at least two others either in war or arts may place her name into consideration for the seat, though the more titles she has, the better her chances. Hikari tells me that no less than fifty names have already been submitted. I will choose the ones who are honorable out of that list and devise a contest to select a single winner from among them."

"What defines honor among Uranians?"

Haruka glanced over her shoulder at the blonde Moon Princess, meeting thoughtful pale blue eyes. "It's hard to explain, Serenity. Our honor is intimately tied into the concept of _sa'usikha_ and each woman's balance of _sajink_ and _saliis_. I will judge each woman and decide if she has found her own balance and helped those below her to find theirs."

A sharp knock on the door stalled the conversation, Michiru straightening as she turned toward the noise. Haruka watched, smiling, as her wife's newly awakened warrior instincts took over despite the blue and green dress swirling around her feet as she moved to answer the door. She opened the door a crack, teal eyes glaring at the guard standing in the hallway. She murmured something to the Uranian, nodding at the answer before closing the door once more, still on alert as she turned back to her fellow princesses. "The Council has been called."

Haruka nodded as Rei placed a slender golden tiara on her head and Minako fiddled with her bracelets. "I believe we are ready, then."

"Not quite." Setsuna detached herself from the shadows cloaking the back of the room, still more comfortable in the dark even with the senshi standing nearby. She had chosen a dark burgundy gown for the meeting, even allowing Minako to augment it with strings of garnets hanging from her waist and black opals in her earrings and necklace. Setsuna lifted a small wooden box from Haruka's dresser, opening it to reveal a bright golden gem on a golden chain, Makoto's sharp intake of breath indicating that the princesses recognized the heirloom. "I spoke with Ono Hikari earlier today and she mentioned that, even though you carry the Space Sword and Uranus henshin stick, you were never given the keystone of Uranus. She took me to the armory and helped me find your keystone. I can see that your companion senshi have received them from their own mothers, so it is certainly time for you to wear your own."

Haruka smiled as Setsuna fastened the chain around her neck, her emerald eyes sparking with gold as the weight of the gem settled above her breasts. She felt a small surge of power, a tingle of electricity dancing along her skin, a whisper in the back of her mind as Uranus shifted in its sleep. Setsuna watched as the blonde flexed her fingers and her eyes turned dark gold for just a moment. She had seen that reaction before only once, when the first Sailor Uranus received her Planet Crystal and Talisman. Haruka had the strength of her greatest ancestors and power beyond anything Setsuna had seen in three thousand years, since that terrible day on Miranda's Chime Cliffs when Nao faced her and cursed her name, the wind screaming in her ears. The Queen of Pluto took a step back as she _recognized_ Haruka's soul, knowing that Nao stood before her once more even though the blonde could not possibly remember her previous life.

"What?"

"Nothing," Setsuna replied, lying with the ease of long practice. "I just see so much of your mother in your eyes."

Haruka accepted Setsuna's word, leading the Outer Senshi into the hall as their Inner counterparts turned to follow. Ami lagged behind, having seen a flash of fear in the dark queen's eyes as Haruka accepted her keystone, wondering what Setsuna could have seen in that moment to frighten her so.

* * *

Haruka stepped into the Main Council Chamber and paused, watching the thinly veiled chaos that had consumed her court. The nine War Queens shouted directions from the high dais, futilely trying to organize the Lesser War Queens and Lower Chiefs as nearly a hundred women argued among themselves on the lowest level, ignoring their leaders as they made their bids for the open Sixth Seat. Michiru paused beside Haruka, glancing up at the blonde as she wondered how her wife would calm the chaos. Gesturing for the other senshi and their princess to wait, Haruka summoned her Space Sword and stepped into the room, a blast of wind screaming through the chamber. Silence fell as all eyes turned toward the princess, every Uranian bowing as their princess walked across the gold and navy carpet to the high dais where her War Queens stood. Letting her sword vanish, Haruka climbed the last two stairs and took a seat on the throne above the War Queens' dais, gesturing for the members of the council to take their seats.

"That's better. Allow me to introduce my companions: Queen Setsuna of Pluto, High Princess Serenity of the Moon, and the princesses of Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Neptune. They will sit as judges with me today."

The room waited silently as Serenity and the senshi joined Haruka, a handful of servants finding chairs for them and placing them on either side of the throne. As soon as her friends were seated, Haruka leaned forward and gestured for her War Queens to begin.

Endou Ado bowed her head as she stepped forward, having exchanged her customary armor for a dark red dress, long hair hanging past her shoulders in a sharp contrast to the style she had chosen for Koshu's aborted trial. She spoke High Oberonian, as was expected in Uranian Court, and the holo-screens above the senshi's chairs translated her words into Sol Standard. "We welcome you to Council, Princess Haruka, daughter of Kazeko, descendant of Nao the Conqueror, child of the High Duke of Umbriel. Your recent absence from the Court created great turmoil, but your presence here today will end all of that. As First War Queen, it is my great honor to introduce your Council on this important occasion."

"Proceed."

"I begin by introducing myself, First Endou Ado, daughter of Anza, descendant of Nao the Conqueror, child of the High Duke of Umbriel. I introduce Second Kimura Sanae, daughter of Shira, descendant of Reiko the Fierce, child of the Sword of Ares. I introduce Third Tahara Hiroko, daughter of Barani, descendant of Setsuna the Great, child of the Dark One. I introduce Fourth Ono Hikari, daughter of Yumi, descendant of Nao the Conqueror, child of the High Duke of Umbriel. I introduce Fifth Nishina Yuri, daughter of Fumina, descendant of Queen Mariya the Just, child of the Wilds of Ganymede. I introduce Seventh Takeda Keiko, daughter of Yui, descendant of Natsumi the Silent, child of the Line of Cronos. I introduce Eighth Inami Tomoko, daughter of Naru, descendant of Yuuka the Magnificent, child of the Seas of Triton. I introduce Ninth Murata Ayumi, daughter of Ayano, descendant of Minami the Gentle, child of the Light of Aphrodite. Finally, I introduce Tenth Katayama Sayuri, daughter of Miwa, descendant of Chieko the Strategist, child of the Line of Hermes. Your War Queens stand with you, Your Highness."

"I accept the loyalty of the War Queens and invite them to stand judgment with me."

"We so stand." As one, the War Queens bowed before taking their seats, Ado gesturing toward the middle dais. Taichen Laira, her hair braided with chains of emeralds, smiled as she detached herself from the cluster of Lesser War Queens, walking up the two steps to the War Queen dais before offering a bow to her princess. "The Lesser War Queen Council has chosen Taichen Laira to speak today," Ado announced, smiling at the younger woman. "Do you accept her as Speaker?"

"I accept Taichen Laira as Speaker today," Haruka replied, the formal response matching her own personal reply. She was glad that the actress had been selected to introduce the candidates, knowing that she had been chosen because of the message she relayed from Mercury that led to Haruka's return to Uranus.

"I will organize the candidates for you, Highness," Laira replied, walking past the Lower War Queens, the Lesser Chiefs, and the Duchess Council to the lowest level and the warriors waiting in silence to be called.

Haruka leaned back in her throne to wait, gesturing for her War Queens to return to their conversations in the interim. "That's the most ceremony you will ever see on Uranus," she commented, turning to face Ami as the genius leaned forward. "Yes?"

"I was wondering about the introductions, actually. Most of your War Queens seem to have non-Uranian ancestry. Is that common?"

Haruka shrugged. "You have to remember that this is a planet of war, and the last major war other than the fighting on Pluto decades ago was the Antares Uprising. All of my War Queens and every warrior of note on Uranus trace their ancestry to the queens of that time. My lineage descends from Nao, of course, but most of the War Queens are more closely related to the other queens than to her. For example, Setsuna, Hiroko is a direct descendant of your lineage from the Uprising."

Setsuna nodded, garnet eyes distant. "Yes, I remember when her father's mother left my court to serve Chisaki. I do enjoy being called Setsuna the Great in a Uranian Council session, though I have never heard anyone being called 'child of the Dark One' in that fashion."

"We have a name for each of the major lineages. As the High Duke of Umbriel, I would think that you would enjoy the references."

Michiru's eyes widened as she leaned forward, smiling at the shock on Setsuna's face. "That's true, isn't it? You told us that you're the third god, the dark one, and you did father Kazeko, the first Senshi of Uranus."

Setsuna nodded, surprised that Haruka had figured it out before either of the geniuses, slowly becoming accustomed to sharing her secrets with the senshi. "When the Silver Millennium was first created, long before the first Serenity created the ginzuishou, we three divided the planets and agreed to father royal lineages on each one, creating children who would one day be powerful enough to channel the life-force of the planets. Tranquility chose only Earth, having little interest in our plans, so Serenity took the Inner Planets and I took the Outer. The children of Pluto, Neptune, Uranus, and Saturn are all my descendants, while the children of Mercury, Venus, Mars, and Jupiter are all part of Serenity's line. Later, when the lineages became weak, the Patron Gods of each planet bred into the lines that we created, making you all true avatars."

A commotion from the lower levels ended the conversation, the senshi turning their attention to Laira as she returned to the War Queens' dais, taking the final few steps to stand before Haruka. "The list is finalized and ready for your approval, Princess."

Haruka took the data pad from Laira, scanning through the list slowly, a series of titles and accomplishments appearing beside each name as her eyes paused at them. Slowly, she whittled the list from over a hundred applicants to a mere twenty, handing the pad back to Laira. "I have chosen the best candidates and invite them to approach me now."

The first few candidates approached the throne with confidence, having been among the women Haruka subdued in her trip through the system. Murata Natako stepped up first, her long, pale blonde hair evidence of her Venusian ancestry while the fire in her dark hazel orbs marked her as a true Uranian and a powerful warrior in her own right. "I offer myself as the next Sixth War Queen. I have three war titles and one in the arts, and I have trained with my cousin for years so that I might one day be eligible to receive a seat on the council."

"And who speaks for you?"

"I will speak for her," Ayumi answered, standing from her seat. "She attacked my fleet in order to show her strength, and I believe that she is capable of sitting with us."

"I accept your offer. Next."

Saitou Kai, considerably more respectful toward Haruka than she had been at Jupiter, bowed to the princess, keeping her dark green eyes averted. "As a blood relation of the former Sixth War Queen, I offer myself as a candidate for her seat."

Haruka glanced at Nishina Yuri, silently asking the older woman if she would allow Kai to compete. The woman glanced at Kai and sighed, shrugging as she nodded. "I will speak for Saitou Kai."

Two more of the warriors involved in the disturbances were rejected, having no one to speak for them, then three of Hikari's daughters approached the throne. Haruka had never met Takako or Chiho before, but the twin sisters were tall and strong like their mother, both with her brown hair and golden eyes and both with sufficient titles to allow them to compete. Beside them, smaller and much leaner, Miki stood proudly, dark blonde hair tied out of her way and golden eyes sparkling fiercely. Haruka stood from her throne, hands behind her back as she considered the trio. "All of you have enough titles and accomplishments to be considered for the position of Sixth, but since you are daughters of another War Queen, only your mother can sponsor you. Hikari, you have three children here; whom will you sponsor?"

Hikari stood from her chair, running her long fingers through her gold-highlighted hair as she considered the question. "Takako, I speak for you."

Chiho nodded, accepting that her twin sister had been chosen over her, but Miki closed her eyes in despair, turning away from the throne. Haruka sensed Michiru rise, the War Queens looking up in shock as the Neptunian reached out and touched Miki's shoulder. "I fought you once, and you were an honorable opponent. You also recognized your princess while she was in hiding and helped her in her moment of great need. You have proven your loyalty to her beyond anything I have seen from these other candidates, and you deserve to participate in this contest. As a Princess of the Silver Millennium, I believe that I have the right to sponsor any candidate for a Seat, no matter her relation to any of the reigning War Queens. Am I correct?"

"You are," Ado replied, shock in her voice. "Princess Michiru of Neptune, do you speak for Ono Miki, daughter of Hikari, descendant of Nao the Conqueror, child of the High Duke of Umbriel?"

Michiru nodded as she pulled her hand back, smiling at the young warrior. "I do."

"Then Ono Takako and Ono Miki may both compete for the position of Sixth." Haruka waved her hand toward Kai and Natako, smiling as she watched Michiru return to her seat. Laira, having expected something like that from her princess's wife, smiled as she brought the next candidate forward.

_How did you know?_

_I have studied every culture in this system, and I accessed historical records on the promotion of War Queens while you, Rei, and Makoto were out subduing your rebellious people. As soon as I heard that Miki had entered her name into the contest, I decided that she must be allowed to compete. She has already served you so well as just the daughter of a War Queen; imagine what she could be capable of as a sitting member of your Council._

_She might not win,_ Haruka warned her wife, rejecting the next three candidates and accepting the following two as their silent conversation continued.

_But she might. Even if she loses, I imagine I can convince the Princess of Uranus to offer her the position of Lesser War Queen._

Haruka glanced over her shoulder and smiled wryly at her partner, nodding in agreement before turning back to the stairs. Setsuna watched the silent exchange curiously, unable to understand the relationship between the senshi of Uranus and Neptune. Years ago, when she fought beside their mothers, she had been able to see that Kazeko and Shousha were lovers, even as she could see the bond between Rikuriko and Asakaze in those days and the relationship between Amami and Meika. But these senshi . . . they were the most open women she had ever served with, and at the same time they were the most secretive. From the interactions she had observed, it did not seem that they were lovers or even interested in each other, but if Haruka carried Nao's soul as she strongly suspected, then she should certainly have developed feelings for her Neptunian partner, almost certainly the carrier of Yuuka's soul. How, then, could they all just be friends when their ancestors had been so much in love that they nearly destroyed the Silver Millennium?

Haruka concluded the selection process, taking her seat once more and breaking Setsuna out of her thoughts. "You ten are the final candidates to take Yasuda Mari's empty seat. Now, I offer you the most interesting contest I could devise, and the warrior who provides me with the best show will be awarded the rank of War Queen. Anyone else who amuses me but does not win may receive the rank of Lesser War Queen."

"What is the contest?"

Haruka leaned forward at Sanae's question, grinning with a strange, insane joy. "They will fight two of my fellow senshi."

"Which two?"

Haruka shrugged, waving her hand at the cluster of candidates. "They can decide. Pick any two senshi you wish, and they will fight you."

_Haruka!_

_It's brilliant, Michi. I will be able to assess their strengths just from the choice they make, and the battle itself will be magnificent._ She glanced over her shoulder at the Neptunian, smiling as she gestured toward the War Queen dais. "Go and advise the woman you sponsored, Princess."

The nine War Queens and Michiru joined the ten candidates, listening as the women offered their suggestions. Kai and Natako both wanted to fight Rei and Makoto, opting for a fight of strength they were sure they could win. Takako and three of the other women wanted to fight Minako, the Leader of the Inner Senshi, since she was rumored to have a hidden reservoir of strength that few Uranians would ever see. One of the women, Haru Chikage, wanted to fight Setsuna, but Hiroko shook her head. "You do not want to fight her. Bravery is one thing, but that is simply suicide. She has powers you can never hope to understand and I promise that you would not survive the encounter. You need to choose another."

"Then I would choose the Princess of Mercury." Ami was the weakest of the senshi in physical combat, and clearly Chikage knew that. Two others, clearly influenced by their fellows, chose Makoto and Rei, leaving only Miki to offer her choice.

"Who would you choose to fight, Miki?"

Miki glanced up at her princess and the senshi sitting beside her, tilting her head to one side. "Choosing Ami is the coward's choice, since Sailor Mercury is known for her strategy but not for her physical abilities. Makoto and Rei are worthy opponents, but Martians fight best when enraged by injury and I have no desire to drastically injure one of the few defenses we have against the coming darkness. Jovians fight best in the trees and when they have cover, but here we are in the open where they have a disadvantage. I choose to meet my opponents on a level field, literally and metaphorically. I would never challenge Queen Setsuna, not after hearing of her exploits in the last war, and her wiping the floor with me would not provide a very interesting show for our princess. She herself would be the ideal opponent, but as final arbiter she is not eligible to fight. I agree with my sister that Minako would be an interesting opponent and I believe that she is stronger than her beauty would suggest. As for my second choice, I would fight you, Michiru."

"Me? Why?"

Miki grinned, her reasons having shamed most of her fellows and her choice shocking even the War Queens. "Because Sailor Neptune has the ability to mimic, to learn, and to evolve. I fought you once without realizing your full potential, and I would fight you again with both eyes open. I truly believe that you and Minako would be the most worthy opponents."

"I agree with my sister," Takako announced, smiling at Michiru. "And knowing that she has fought you before, I am now curious to see how a Neptunian could defeat a Uranian. How do the rest of you vote?"

Michiru turned toward Haruka, shock in her teal eyes despite the mask of calm on her face as the candidates endorsed Miki's choice. Haruka stood from her throne, eyes narrowed in response to her wife's surprise, having missed the entire conversation. "Who did they choose?"

"They chose to fight me and Minako."

Makoto let out a low whistle, shaking her head in disbelief as the War Queen returned to their chairs and Michiru moved to stand before her wife. "Well, we saw you fight against each other so now I guess we get to see you fight _with_ one another."

Rei glared at Haruka from her chair beside Minako, fury swirling in the depths of her amethyst eyes. She had not wanted her soul mate to fight when the opponent was only another senshi, so the prospect of watching ten trained Uranian warriors gang up on her partner was not sitting well with the Martian. Minako turned to Rei and smiled, silently begging the red-head to trust that she could take care of herself, promising that she would not be harmed no matter the number of enemies pitted against her. Slowly, Rei relaxed, nodding her reluctant acceptance, closing her eyes as Minako stood and joined Michiru beside Haruka. The Uranian, unable to offer her wife a comforting kiss or even an affectionate caress with Setsuna and her entire court watching, settled for a reassuring smile. _Good luck, my siren. I did not think they would choose you, but I cannot pretend to be upset that I get to watch you in action once more. Remember, you must match your partner's energy, even when that partner is Minako instead of me. Trust the instincts that you have copied from me and from the rest of our friends and you will win._

 _I will win, anyway,_ Michiru returned, flicking her wrist to summon her henshin stick as she smiled at her partner. _As long as I am fighting for you, I can never lose._

Haruka smiled as she took her throne, watching the two senshi transform and descend to the floor. The rejected applicants spread out to the sides of the chamber, leaving the base of the tiered dais free to allow the princesses and War Queens unobstructed viewing of the combatants. The ten warriors entered the impromptu ring and stood opposite Venus and Neptune, each choosing a weapon from the racks available along the wall. Venus summoned her chain, a long sword appearing on her hip, while Neptune chose a pair of slender swords like Rei often carried, talisman hanging from her belt. Haruka and the other senshi stepped forward, walking down to the War Queen level as the two groups faced each other, waiting for the signal to begin.

* * *


	27. Martian Blood Rage

**Chapter 27: Martian Blood Rage**

* * *

_February 28, 8983_

* * *

Neptune glanced at Venus, testing the weight of her borrowed swords as she considered her partner and weapons. The swords were very light and perfectly balanced, far finer than anything she had ever wielded and more beautiful than any weapon had a right to be. Glancing at the intricate scrollwork on the blade itself and the runes engraved on the jeweled hilt, Neptune could understand the beauty within war that Uranus had tried to show her. "She planned this." Her wife had tried so many times to explain the concept of _sa'usikha_ but Michiru had never been able to understand. Now, holding a pair of beautiful swords while facing ten silent Uranians, Michiru thought that she might finally be closer to the truth.

" _Of course she did,"_ Venus replied ruefully, her voice light but still free of the usual emotion associated with use of her native language. _"She loves to watch people fight, especially beautiful people like us."_

Neptune took a deep breath, closing her blue eyes to narrow slits as she opened her mind and reached for the vibrant aura pulsing beside her, struggling to touch the blinding light emanating from her partner. "I don't suppose you can tone it down?"

Venus shrugged as she readied her chain, choosing her first target. _"Probably not. Are you ready, Neptune?"_

"Always, Venus." Neptune sensed the aura beside her tighten and focus, darkening as Venus moved forward, her chain glowing with her power. Neptune moved in step with the blonde, eyes opening as she chose a target on the opposite side of the group from Venus, hoping to scatter the Uranians.

She heard her wife laugh from the dais overhead, Haruka knowing that Uranians were too well-trained to be frightened into scattering. The laughing silenced as Haruka realized what her wife had planned and she gestured for her fellow senshi observers to lean forward and watch the battle carefully.

Saitou Kai and Murata Natako moved to the side of the circle as a unit, having already decided to band together against the senshi. They were both strong and dangerous, but if none of the other women would side with them they would be easily overwhelmed. Ono Takako, Ono Miki, Saeki Seira, and Seo Yasuko slipped between the advancing senshi, each still calm and patient, hoping that the other combatants would wear themselves out first. Takako was clearly the leader of the group; as the second oldest daughter of a reigning War Queen she had much more practical experience and power than her fellows. Seira, whose lineage descended from one of the members of the Duchess Council, kept her Saturnian-purple eyes on Venus as she passed the blonde, her long red braid nearly brushing the senshi as they passed. She was known for her archery, but she had chosen a long sword for the contest since they would remain in close quarters where arrows would be useless. Yasuko, her silver hair short and flame-colored eyes emotionless, descended from two powerful lineages on the Council and had been championed by her distant cousin Sanae who shared a common ancestry through the Martian Royal Family. Her father's mother had been a Lesser War Queen in the skirmishes on Pluto, serving well and fighting fiercely despite being the only member of the Uranian Court to trace her lineage from the lesser royals on the Moon. Serenity's line only had one daughter per generation, but the other members of the Moon Royalty had powers and abilities of their own, most of them barely understood in the Outer Planets.

Haru Chikage stood alone, her orange eyes tracking Venus as she ran a distracted hand through her black and red hair. Her choice of Ami as an opponent had alienated the other candidates, leaving her alone at the edge of the circle and, consequently, the easiest target for the senshi. She carried a double-ended spear and wielded it as confidently as Makoto with her quarterstaff, though she was clearly unhappy to be standing by herself. The last three combatants stood clustered together more out of a lack of anywhere else to stand than through any genuine desire to combine their strength, and they would lose just as quickly once Venus and Neptune realized that their alliance was weak. Iemura Junko flexed her long fingers, her dark blue hair and choice of fist weapons betraying her Neptunian lineage. She watched Neptune as the sea senshi moved away from the wall, teal eyes glancing at the mirror on her opponent's belt before returning to the senshi herself. Junko recognized the threat offered by a senshi who could learn, but she had no idea how to deal with it.

Wakamatsu Megumi shifted away from her partners as she coiled a long chain around her arm, having chosen the same weapon Sailor Venus carried. Her long, tightly braided mint green hair was clearly a result of Jovian blood mixed into a Uranian lineage, but there was no explanation for her blank white eyes. The final combatant, a distant relative of Third Tahara Hiroko through her Plutonian blood, Eguchi Shiori, was as unnerved by Megumi and her fighting prowess as any who had met her, and carefully edged away from the older woman. Shiori's silver eyes flicked to Venus as she backed away from the obvious threat, raising her sword with one hand while she pushed a stray wisp of pale blonde hair away from her face. She glanced at Neptune briefly as the senshi circled behind the group, but none of the warriors paid the senshi of femininity any mind.

Venus, tired of dancing around the warriors, flicked her wrist, grinning as her chain captured Chikage and pulled her off-balance, the Uranian reacting instantly by raising her spear to release the tension holding the chain against her body, eyes widening in shock as Neptune took advantage of her distraction and slammed the hilt of her borrowed sword into the back of her head. Silently, Chikage crumpled to the ground, unconscious and officially out of the contest. The other nine women nodded in acceptance of the message Neptune offered to never turn their backs on either of the two senshi. The could see that the two women fought together as a unit, capable of communicating without the need for words or gestures, leaving the Uranians at a disadvantage.

Megumi glanced at Shiori, requesting support, smiling as the silver-eyed woman agreed to the brief alliance. They moved as a unit, Kai and Natako flanking the senshi on the other side as the warriors attacked. Neptune rolled back, avoiding all weapons as she kicked at Kai's legs, unbalancing the warrior for just a moment as Venus jumped. Kai reached for Natako's hand for support, leaving herself vulnerable while the other warriors watched Venus somersault over the group, kicking out with her legs as her hands touched the ground. Natako grunted as a heeled foot connected with her head, struggling to keep her balance as Venus's talisman moved of its own accord and wrapped around her ankle. Neptune grinned as she swung her sword at the group, forcing Natako to release Kai in order to defend herself. Venus jerked on her chain and pulled Ayumi's cousin to the ground, watching Megumi and Shiori back away as Neptune pointed one of her swords at Kai's throat. Both women dropped their weapons in surrender and the senshi stepped away, giving them time to leave the ring and join Chikage and the healers attending her.

Takako and Miki exchanged a glance, understanding each other as only sisters could, turning to Seira and Yasuko and gesturing toward the senshi and warriors standing on the other side of the circle. The four women moved, hoping to outnumber and overwhelm the two senshi, Junko joining their attack while Shiori and Megumi moved away to await the outcome. Venus and Neptune faced their foes, one twirling her swords thoughtfully while the other weighed her chain in one hand and rested her other on the hilt of her own sword. Takako moved to attack, faster by far than the three defeated opponents and much more clever than Megumi and Shiori. She aimed for Venus, Junko and Seira with her, while Miki and Yasuko faced Neptune. Unlike every other combatant, Miki carried no weapon, instead relying on her expertise in unarmed combat, and Yasuko kept her sword sheathed in deference to her partner's choice. Neptune rolled to the side, away from Venus, and sheathed her twin swords, fingers brushing over her mirror as she raised her hands in a defensive posture she had learned from Haruka.

Venus jumped away from her three enemies, swinging her chain along the floor as she moved. The three warriors jumped over the golden links, hot sparks of light bouncing harmlessly off their boots, Junko freeing a handful of tiny knives from her bracers and throwing them. Venus laughed as she easily dodged the projectiles, blinding the trio with a flash of light from her tiara, drawing her sword and throwing it at the warrior who had dared attack her with ineffectual knives. Junko grunted as the sword pierced her armor just above her hip, the senshi's aim so perfect that the Uranian did not receive even a tiny scratch. The momentum of the sword carried the warrior to the ground, pinning her in place as the sword pulsed with its senshi's power, daring Junko to rise. She raised her hands in surrender, the sword vanishing from her side and reappearing in its senshi's sheath, allowing Junko to leave the field of battle. Seira, startled by Venus's perfect shot, backed away to join Megumi and Shiori, leaving Takako to face Venus alone.

Neptune danced away from her opponents, none of their punches landing and none of their blows reaching her. She smiled at them, teasing the women who sought to defeat her, knowing that her power was greater than theirs and that they could not make a move that she would not foresee. She could tell that Miki was trying to switch to a more erratic fighting style, remembering their battle from Neptune, so she moved just a little more slowly, dodged just a little less quickly, and allowed a handful of punches to land. Miki tilted her head in confusion as she suddenly gained the upper hand, backing off at the first indication of a trap.

"She's smart," Haruka murmured, too quiet to be heard by the combatants but loud enough for her fellow senshi to follow. "She sees the trap, though I am surprised. I would never expect one of you to fall for Michiru's trick after having seen it once, but she only learned that after Neptune. Miki has never seen it."

"She does not need to know the exact nature of the trap in order to sense that one has been set," Ami replied, glancing at her computer screen as she recorded the fight. These were some of the finest young warriors Uranus could offer, and their varied fighting styles begged further study. "Neptune's speed has slowed by only five percent, but your cousin rightly determined that a senshi, even one from a pacifist world, could never be tired so quickly. Yasuko, however, seems fooled."

Yasuko's confidence grew as more of her punches landed, her overconfidence not at all surprising to the pair of senshi. Neptune caught Venus's eye for just a moment, smiling at her partner as she dropped to the ground and rolled forward, kicking up as she regained her balance. Venus dodged away from Takako at that moment, swinging her chain in a wide arc over Yasuko's head, watching as the silver-haired woman predictably ducked, gasping as the force of Neptune's unexpected kick knocked the breath from her lungs. The aqua-haired warrior laughed as she grabbed Yasuko's shoulders and pushed with her legs, lifting the taller woman from the ground and throwing her back as far as she could. Yasuko grunted as her head hit the ground, closing her eyes in defeat as a fierce headache pounded through her skull. She was out.

Venus returned her attention to Takako and drew her sword, offering a simple battle to Hikari's tall daughter. Smiling, Takako accepted the challenge, drawing her own sword and facing the Venusian princess. On the other side of the ring, swords drawn as they watched Neptune rise, fearful of her after she so easily dispatched Yasuko, the other three women watched her warily. Neptune raised her mirror and glanced into its turbulent surface, smiling as she twirled it around her finger before replacing it on her belt. She had seen their weaknesses, and these three women were no threat. From the sidelines nearby, Miki backed off to watch, knowing that her sister would not accept her assistance and that the other three did not deserve it.

Seira attacked as Neptune moved forward, her single sword slicing through the air only to be met by one of Neptune's blades. Megumi joined the fight a moment later by attacking with her chain, followed by Shiori as the three women realized at last that their only hope for victory lie in teamwork. Neptune easily blocked their strikes and dodged Megumi's spinning chain, dancing with the trio as ribbons of aqua power began to swirl around her frame. She was _enjoying_ the fight in a way she never had before, giving every ounce of herself into the concept of war, as determined to _win_ as her blonde counterpart. Haruka nodded as her wife finally learned the Venusian desire for victory and incorporated it into her own fighting style, joining it with the Uranian love of beauty within war that she had already learned during their time training together on Neptune. The slender woman quickly disarmed Seira and sent her away, leaving only Megumi and Shiori before her.

Venus parried another strike from Takako as the older woman began to understand that her opponent was not a typical Venusian. There was no peace in those blue orbs, no mercy or gentleness, only fire and light and _victory_. At that moment, when Takako realized that Venus would most certainly _win_ , her guard wavered and she took a wrong step, leaving herself vulnerable to attack. Venus sensed her hesitation immediately, pushing her sudden advantage and forcing the Uranian into a defensive posture.

"Takako will lose," Makoto announced, emerald eyes watching the dance. "She has given up, accepted that Minako is her superior, and now she cannot hope to win."

"True. She is a fine warrior, though, with a great deal of honor and courage. Others flock to her in recognition of her leadership ability, but she is not quite right to be a full War Queen. Perhaps she could serve you as a Lesser War Queen?"

Haruka nodded at Rei's suggestion, emerald eyes focused on the contest between Neptune and two of the last three combatants. "Perhaps you are right, Pyro."

Neptune quickly tired of fighting two opponents, irritated by the friction between them. Megumi was reckless and brash, too confident and too much of a loner to ever accept assistance from another, nearly striking her partner as she attacked the senshi with her wild chain. Shiori was terrified of the white-eyed warrior, having accepted that they needed to band together but unable to truly do so with someone she could never trust. Neptune slid between them and forced them further apart in a bold move she had learned from Makoto, more interested in testing their strength separately in the hopes of seeing something amazing. As she stepped between them, Megumi manage to land a blow with the edge of her sharpened chain, the wild warrior grinning as a line of blood appeared along Neptune's side just above her hips.

Neptune stepped back slowly, looking at her wound curiously but without any measure of concern for her own well-being. Blood stained the pure white of her senshi uniform, the wound healing nearly as quickly as it had appeared. She could sense Haruka's worry in the back of her mind, but she was beyond caring about such emotions. Inside her soul, emanating from the same well of power from which she could call forth the sea, fire raged and screamed, begging to be released. Smiling, she _reached_ for it.

"By the gods," Setsuna whispered, taking a brief second to scold herself for using the expression; "she's bloodlusting. That should not be possible."

"The rage is consuming her," Rei affirmed, amethyst eyes sparkling with wonder. "I have never seen it in a non-Martian, but Michiru has learned my race's greatest strength. When did she have time to absorb the power of a blood rage?"

"She never fought you while you were in the throes of the rage," Haruka murmured, now more curious about her wife's strange power than concerned for her small injury. "The only one who has seen your power is me, and I am not fighting beside her."

"You aren't the only one," Rei reminded the tall blonde; "Minako was there that day, on Mars, and she saw my power. She transformed into Sailor Venus while I and my mother were in the throes of it, so that power signature could certainly have imprinted on her aura, despite the fact that Sailor Venus cannot learn to copy it."

"By fighting beside Sailor Venus, opening herself to our leader's aura, Neptune has inadvertently copied the Martian Blood Rage that Minako witnessed that day," Ami murmured, furiously typing on her computer. "Setsuna, have you ever heard of such a thing in your time as Sailor Pluto?"

The dark queen shook her head, itching to summon her Time Key but knowing that it could not give her the answers she sought if she did not even know the correct question to ask. "I know that Yuuka learned some very strange things in her day, things that the person teaching her did not know though they had been exposed to it before. I am only talking about small things, like a certain flower-arranging technique known to Mariya's younger sister but not to the princess herself. Yuuka was able to master it after spending a great deal of time with Mariya while her sister was off-world, so I suppose that the power of her mirror lets Neptune copy things that others have experienced even if they cannot perform the action itself. But the Rage . . . only a Martian can summon it. She has no ancestry from your world, Rei, as far as I know, so this is something that I cannot explain. I do not like things I cannot explain."

"I enjoy a good mystery once in a while," Ami countered, glancing up at the queen; "as long as we can eventually solve it."

In the ring, Neptune's eyes had changed to black, the color that took over when a Martian entered the Rage, the color of the certain death promised by her wild, maniacal grin. She moved without warning and with a greater speed than she had yet expressed, striking out at Shiori, forcing the other woman to retreat. Venus, knowing that Hikari's daughter had surrendered and was no longer truly fighting her, disarmed and defeated Takako, turning to watch Neptune fight the silver-eyed blonde. Shock flared in her pale blue eyes as she recognized the Martian Blood Rage that had consumed her friend, a strength she had only seen once before. How could Neptune have learned _that_?

Miki moved to stand beside Venus, a temporary truce stalling their contest while they watched the princess of a pacifist world moving in the throes of a rage born from the descendants of the God of War. Megumi silently moved away from the blonde pair, her calculating white eyes searching the ground for something to help her win while the others were distracted. Neptune, finally tired of playing with her foe, crossed her swords in front of her chest and used them to grab Shiori's weapon, disarming the woman before kicking her legs out from under her and forcing her to the ground. Her black eyes stared at the Uranian down the length of one of her swords, the tip just barely pressing against the woman's exposed throat as the senshi fought the urge to finish her opponent off. She held her second sword behind her back, ready to swing it forward if her opponent dared to move. The rage in her mind screamed for death, but the seas urged calm, patience, and mercy. Slowly she lowered her second sword and stepped back from Shiori's prone form, fighting the bloodlust as she waited for the defeated Uranian to rise.

Miki turned to Venus and grinned, raising her hands in a challenge as she prepared to fight the leader of the Inner Senshi, ignoring Shiori lying on the floor just a few feet away and the senshi standing over the defeated warrior. Accepting the challenge and trusting that Neptune could gain control of herself, Venus sheathed her sword and wrapped her chain around her waist, silently promising to fight the wiry woman with no weapons, no powers, as Miki's stance requested. Behind them and on the other side of the ring, Megumi finally found the scattered knives that Junko had thrown at Venus earlier, reaching down for one and aiming it at Neptune's unprotected back.

Miki centered her weight and moved to attack Venus, freezing at the movement she could sense behind her. Turning toward Megumi, leaving herself open if Venus chose to attack, Miki knew at once what her fellow warrior was planning, and she knew that Neptune was still caught in the throes of the Rage and would not be prepared to defend herself. Wind rushed through the chamber as Haruka realized that same terrible truth, as she sensed the imminent danger to her wife, but she was too far away to help and her transformation would take far too long. An instant before Megumi threw the knife, Miki leapt for the aqua-haired senshi, pushing her out of the way without concern for her own safety. Venus watched, shocked, as Megumi's flying knife buried itself in Miki's right shoulder blade, knowing without the need for Neptune's mirror that it would have struck one of her fellow senshi's vital organs. Megumi's intent had been the senshi's death.

Neptune's borrowed rage dissipated in an instant, the princess falling to her knees beside Miki's prone form, her sword clattering on the marble floor. Haruka was beside them a moment later, not wasting time checking on her uninjured wife when one of her cousins had been so gravely wounded. The other senshi, Serenity, and Hikari joined them on the lowest level a moment later, Shiori and Megumi backing away as it became clear that the contest was over. Takako walked over from the sidelines, furious, and grabbed Megumi, punching the warrior hard enough to knock her out.

"Miki?"

"Princess," the wiry blonde replied warmly, gold eyes free of the pain she most certainly felt. A warrior would never show weakness, especially to her princess. "It didn't hit anything major; a few moments with the healers and I will be alright."

"Why did you do it?" Neptune's voice was soft, trembling with shock. She was lost somewhere between fury that one of the warriors would intentionally try to kill her and wonder that another would risk her life to save an outsider.

Miki turned her gaze to Michiru as the princess dropped her transformation, wincing as Ami helped her sit up so she could examine the knife. "You are the soul of our Princess, and she could never stand to see you injured. She loves her sisters, her partners, as much as she loves our world, and to see you injured would wound her greatly. I could never harm her, and so I could never harm you or see harm come to you no matter the price I must pay to protect you. Non-lethal combat is one thing, but Megumi meant to kill you. I saw into her soul on Neptune, Michiru, and I knew then that my princess would need me to protect her heart. It was said that Nao the Conqueror always spoke of her fellow senshi as beloved pieces of her own soul, and she could never consider living without them. Haruka sees you, all of you, in that wondrous light, so I did what I had to do." It was the best way she could explain her actions with Setsuna listening, knowing that the Plutonian queen could not know about Haruka and Michiru's relationship. She had saved her princess's wife, knowing that Haruka would never be able to live without the aqua-haired siren. She clenched her fist as Ami removed the knife, one of the hovering medics cutting a larger hole in the young warrior's armor to allow for easier access to the wound. "It's not the first time I have had a knife in my back."

Haruka smiled and cupped Miki's cheek in her hand, a rare show of affection from the warrior princess. "Of all the contenders, you are the only one who understood the _point_ of the contest. I never expected any of you to defeat my sister senshi, and I certainly did not need to see your prowess as warriors. All of you have the titles to mark your skills, but I needed to see into your hearts. Some of you have proven yourselves cowards, some are too self-involved to ever be great leaders, but you, Miki, have shown me a part of your soul, a strength that my mother once saw in yours."

"You love your princess as dearly as I loved mine," Hikari supplied helpfully, smiling at her youngest daughter and the reference to Kazeko whom she had loved so much. "You have proven that you would follow her into death if she asked it of you, and you will protect those she loves without question or reservation."

"You have proven your worthiness to be named Sixth War Queen." Haruka glanced over her shoulder at Takako, gesturing for the tall brunette to release Megumi into the custody of the waiting guards, nodding for Yasuko to join the senshi, as well. Miki stared at her princess silently, shocked by Haruka's words and her sudden promotion, despite the fact that she had been fighting to win just such a recognition. "Ono Takako and Seo Yasuko, please join us for a moment." Haruka stood from her crouching position, sensing her fellow senshi stand with her, supporting whatever decision she was about to make. The young Moon Princess remained on the floor with Miki, holding the newly-promoted Sixth War Queen's hand while the healers poked at her bloody wound.

Yasuko watched her princess silently, her red-orange eyes dancing with the excitement of the recent fight as she waited for Haruka to speak. Her silver hair was messy from the fight, the unintentional style matching the eternally wild mess of the princess's blonde locks. "Yasuko, I watched you fight and listened to your choice of opponents. I saw you face my fellow senshi unarmed; knowing that Michiru has less experience with weapons than a _Kazemaru_ of Uranus, you gave her an option to fight on as level a playing field as you can offer. You stood with Miki in that choice, and your honor shone brightly at that moment. Though you will not be Sixth War Queen, I offer you a position among the Lesser War Queens in recognition of your fight today."

Yasuko bowed, joy in her eyes as she accepted her promotion with quiet Uranian dignity. "You honor me, Princess. I will serve you to the best of my ability and I will race the winds by your side."

Haruka grinned, clapping a hand on Yasuko's shoulder in a warrior's gesture of unity as she turned to Takako. "Ono Takako, daughter of a woman who loved my mother and served her more than could ever be expected, you are a born leader and a fine warrior. You gathered these women to your side without even a word, and a leader like that would be welcome among my Council. I name you a Lesser War Queen, as well, to one of the High Seats that has been empty for some time. You will take control of all of the troop deployments among the Lesser War Queens and act as their leader in all acts of battle during this dark time, even as Taichen Laira has taken control of all acts of art to distract our hearts. Welcome to the Council, Ono Takako and Seo Yasuko."

* * *

"Uranus sure has simple ceremonies for the most important events."

Haruka shrugged as she led her fellow senshi to the dining hall, ignoring the two War Queens and three Lesser War Queens following in their wake. "Ami, my people care more about actions than speeches and elaborate ceremonies. They serve no purpose."

"Ceremonies help us focus our mind and serve as a means of communicating our power to our people," Rei countered, keeping one eye on Setsuna while they walked. The dark Queen of Pluto had not said anything since the fight ended, presumably still occupied with the mystery of Neptune's blood rage. "As chanting focuses my mind during fire readings, huge and largely unnecessary elaborate ceremonies focus our peoples' strength behind us."

" _The fight itself was enough for that,"_ Minako countered, having spoken in her birth tongue for so long that the others no longer noticed. The Uranians following them, however, did not speak Venusian, Serenity glancing over her shoulder at them as she realized it. Laira caught the princess's eye and shrugged, indicating that she and her fellow warriors did not care if they could understand the conversation or not.

"I have to go," Setsuna murmured at last, fingers flexing as she itched to have her Time Key in hand once more. "Now that you have control of your world and a Sixth War Queen, I need to return to my meditations."

"Will we see you on Neptune for Michiru's birthday?"

Setsuna's crimson eyes darkened for a moment, the goddess of time clearly sensing how important that night would be. "Yes, I will certainly be there." The group stopped in the center of the hallway as the other senshi turned to face their departing member, Serenity reaching for Setsuna's hands with a gentle smile on her face.

"I am glad you were here, Setsuna."

"Thank you, Princess," the goddess whispered, smiling as her Time Key appeared in her hand. "I will see you on Neptune."

Haruka felt herself relax as Setsuna vanished, Michiru reaching for the comfort of her wife's touch. Minako felt Rei slip an arm around her waist as Makoto ran her callused fingers through Ami's short hair. Laira glanced at Yasuko and Takako, nodding toward the open displays of affection among the senshi, Miki and her mother intently pretending to ignore it from their flanking positions on either side of Princess Serenity. "I will feel so much better once all of this is in the open, for better or worse."

Michiru pulled Haruka's hand to her chest at her wife's words, concern in her sapphire eyes. "She will understand, given time. After all, she is in the same situation."

"She's the one who made the rules that keep us apart," Rei reminded her sisters, a touch of fury swirling in the depths of her amethyst eyes. "No matter how much she becomes part of us, she will always be different because of her ancestry. We cannot be truly together until she stands as one of us, forsaking her family for her humanity."

* * *

Queen Serenity had always been a light sleeper, disturbed by the slightest noise or change in the light streaming through her window. She whimpered something unintelligible as she rolled over, scrunching her brow as her dreams bothered her, the moon mark on her forehead glowing slightly. Serenity's lavender eyes shot open as she pushed herself into a partial sitting position, long silver hair covering her body and flowing across her white blankets. "Who's there?"

"Who else?"

Serenity smiled at the soft voice, the words completely true. "Yes, who else, indeed? I did not think you would come back here so soon."

"I went to the meeting," Setsuna began, slipping free of the concealing shadows and into the moonlight streaming through the glass balcony doors, her deep red dress sparkling in the faint light. Chains of dark opals hung from her slender waist, matching the jewels in her hair and hanging from her neck and ears, the sparkling decorations far more formal than anything the dark queen would normally choose to wear. "We discussed many things, including the power and strength of this generation of senshi, power that I have never before imagined in my ten thousand years. Haruka told us that Uranus visited her and offered a glimpse of the future and a warning, both of which worry me. Then we all went to Oberon to calm the uprising resulting from the death of Sixth Yasuda Mari."

Serenity nodded. "Yes, I heard about that unfortunate event."

"Haruka chose Ono Hikari's daughter Miki to take Mari's place. It was quite a contest." Setsuna's voice was dark, confused, and Serenity knew they had finally reached the core of whatever was bothering her beloved. "It seems that Minako instinctively copied the Martian Blood Rage when she first transformed into Sailor Venus in the presence of Rei and Rikuriko so many weeks ago. Sailor Neptune, Michiru, was able to learn the rage from Venus when they were fighting together, something I did not think possible."

"Wasn't Yuuka able to learn things through other people who had experienced them? I thought I read that in the history files."

Setsuna nodded, moving to sit on the edge of Serenity's bed, Time Key conspicuously absent. "Yes, she was. Yuuka was desperate to learn, to better herself and her people, and she was able to copy things she never intended to learn. It was a surprise to me when I found out that she could do something like that, but what Michiru did was far beyond Yuuka's feats and completely unintentional. She doesn't even know how she copied the blood rage, only that she opened herself to Venus's aura and suddenly the sea in her soul changed to fire when one of the combatants injured her. I have never seen Neptune's inherent ability behave in such a way before, and after combining my powers with them I wonder how much stronger they can all become."

Serenity reached up and ran her fingers through Setsuna's dark green hair, gentle fingers lingering on her lover's dark skin. "You know, there aren't any Lunarians with your complexion. I have met some darker skinned Martians and Jovians, and Yumemi's uncle has skin the color of dark cinnamon, but your color is unique even among your own race. It's unique even among the gods."

Setsuna nodded, knowing that her lover was changing the topic on purpose. "Zeus said it was because I was born in the Underworld, a place of death where no life should be able to grow. Only Demeter or her daughter Persephone could even have conceived and given birth in a place as dark as that. As a god, I have the ability to change my appearance, but I think that the form I choose to take as a mortal is important to my destiny, even down to the color of my skin. I am a child of darkness struggling to find the light through my friendship with Tranquility and Serenity, and through my relationship with you. I hope that one day I will find it, and that one day my heritage will not burden my soul with so much despair."

"Do you regret your past?"

Setsuna nodded, twining her fingers with Serenity's, her crimson eyes having darkened almost to black. "Being a god when all of your friends are mortal and fragile is a terrible burden, my love. My first daughter became the most powerful of Senshi, being claimed as the partner of the Moonlight Crystal, and she died giving birth to Serenity's twins. It was the last time those of us you all call the Trio ever bred with mortals. After that first, terrible moment of loss, I pulled away from the other first senshi, never caring for their daughters and granddaughters until I no longer cared for any of them. I began to live alone on Pluto, in my silent castle, with only my granddaughters to keep me company. Even Tranquility and the other gods stopped visiting me, leaving only Serenity's love to keep me sane."

The queen lowered her lavender eyes to their clasped hands, having always known that Setsuna might have loved her for over two decades, but Se's only love was the goddess twin of Tranquility the Leader of the Cupids. How could she ever hope to compete with the goddess of light Se had mourned for thousands of years? "What happened to bring you back into the Silver Millennium?"

"Chiyoko, the first Sailor Sol, twin to the first Queen Serenity, died in the final, terrible battles of the Chaos Wars, and it hurt me more than the death of my own children. She was my first granddaughter and my Serenity's beloved golden child. Her sister, who had just united the planets and become Queen Serenity, cried at the loss of her twin, and that tear became the ginzuishou that you carry, the crystal that shattered your mother. I began to see the senshi again, walk among them, and I realized that they needed a wise and ancient teacher, so I arranged to have myself born as a mortal every few generations to keep them on the right path."

"Is that what you regret?"

Setsuna looked up at last, smiling at her silver-haired partner. "No. Until the meeting, I did not regret anything. I missed you, missed being with you, missed seeing her grow, but I never truly regretted any of my decisions. Then, somehow, the meeting turned to the talk of soul mates and I realized that I have become more human than any god has a right to be. I . . . I have died too many times, suffered the loss of too many close friends, and ordered the death of too many more. And I realized that I regret so many things that I was so certain of fifteen years ago and three thousand years ago and nine thousand years ago. I regret showing Nao and Yuuka what I knew about the Planet Crystals during the Sailor Wars, I regret bringing their daughters to see them at the end, and I regret leaving you. Ser, in my ten thousand years, that is what I regret most of all."

"Se . . ."

"I love you, more than I ever loved her." It had taken Setsuna years to realize that truth, and Haruka's words about her soul screaming forced her to face her own heart. In the end, she had known that Serenity was her soul mate all along, but she believed herself too pure, too divine, to be trapped by such mortal concepts. In the end, though, she was all too happy to admit to her human weakness. "I know that you think you are second to her memory, but it isn't true. I love her with my heart because I was raised with her, because we shaped the Silver Millennium together, and because she was a gentle and giving soul. I love you with my soul, in a way that a god should never be able to love a mortal, and I love you for the fire you hide beneath your gentle exterior. You were willing to risk nothing less than the very destruction of everything I built in order to stay by my side. There was a wild light in your eyes when you told me that you didn't care if everything burned as long as we could be together, and that frightened me. I had only seen it once before, in Nao's eyes the day she and Yuuka died. When I realized that . . . I think that you are the partner of my soul, Serenity, and I can't stay away from you any longer."

The queen felt tears fill her eyes as Setsuna's arms slipped around her in a protective embrace, the Plutonian silently promising to never leave again. "You will endanger our secret, my love, if you stay."

"No, I won't. The other senshi know about our relationship but they never guessed anything beyond that. It will be safe for us to be together, as long as what happened before does not happen again."

Serenity smiled as she leaned her head on Setsuna's shoulder, smiling as her lover held her close, listening to Setsuna's heart beat in the silence of her room. "Never leave me."

"Never again," Setsuna promised, knowing that she would do everything in her power to make sure she never lost her beloved soul mate, despite the darkness threatening to consume their kingdom.

* * *

Rei sighed as she faced the fire, hands clasped in her lap. "I don't understand why I need to do this. Can't Michiru's mirror show you the same thing?"

"Michiru's soul was present on Miranda the day that Nao and Yuuka died," Haruka countered, correcting Ami's stance as the Mercurian faced Takako in the training room. Miki sat with Minako and Makoto, using the computer system against the wall to explain various combat strategies perfected by the Uranian military over the years. Michiru sat next to Rei, mirror in hand, as she waited to see what the Martian's fire would show them. Laira sat with Serenity, explaining the various war and arts titles available to the Uranian nobility, and Hikari had left with Yasuko to arrange the evening meal. "If there was something that Nao did not want us to know, Yuuka could have easily instructed her talisman to keep that secret. Presumably, Reiko would not have taken such a drastic step, especially if she did not know the true and full reason for locking the planets, as Uranus suggested when I spoke to her. I need to know who was present the day Nao and Yuuka died before we depart for Miranda."

Rei nodded and closed her amethyst eyes, beginning the chant she had used on the ship above Jupiter, focusing all of her power into the crackling flames. She stared at the fire for what seemed like hours, focusing on that instant of Reiko's death she had experienced on Deimos, hoping the flames would show her what Haruka had asked her to see. From her position on the other side of the room, Minako suddenly grunted and doubled over in pain, falling to the ground as searing pain lanced through her skull. Rei's eyes shot open, glowing with a strange fiery light as she began to sing. The haunting words of _The Last Betrayal_ filled the room, everyone turning to face the Martian as her fire faded.

"What did you see?"

Rei shot to her feet and crossed the room, pulling her soul mate into her arms as the pain faded from both of them. "I'm sorry, I pushed too hard and you caught the backlash from my fire reading."

"I'm alright," Minako gasped, resting her head on Rei's shoulder as she accepted her lover's comfort. She spoke in Standard to make sure that everyone understood her, not wishing for the Uranians to wonder about her pain later. "Answer Haruka, Rei; tell her what you saw, what I saw across our bond."

"There were five gods present that day, on the Chime Cliffs," Rei replied, glancing up at the Uranian princess who had joined them. "The fifth one brought Nao and Yuuka's daughters to Miranda so that they could see the choice she had made to protect them."

"I know that Poseidon was there, and Amphitrite's words indicate that she was present, but who were the other three?"

"Uranus was there, of course," Ami replied, "but I am as confused as Michiru concerning the identity of the other two observers."

"Artemis," Haruka whispered, remembering her goddess's words that morning in the temple. "Nao forced Uranus to court Artemis, knowing that the archer goddess would be a good match for the goddess of the winds, so I imagine that she had to be present."

"Se was the last god present." Serenity shrugged when her senshi turned to her, knowing that she was right and that no other answer could be possible. "You all know that it had to be her. The other visions we saw indicated that she initiated the sealing of the planets, so it follows that she would be present when the final senshi died at her command."

"If Setsuna was there, if she knows the choice Nao had to make, why did she not mention it at the meeting?"

"Because that choice was harder than she thought it would be, and she regrets the actions that led to the deaths of her friends and the aftereffects that have kept soul mates apart for the last three thousand years." Rei ran her fingers through Minako's hair, smiling at her partner. "The gods do not want us to be apart and they never wanted us to seal our planet crystals. If they did not want it, and if the senshi did not want it, then only Se's insistence forced the issue that day. She must regret that decision, even if it seemed necessary at the time. We must retrieve your crystal, Haruka, and see the death of the final senshi three thousand years ago, and we must do it soon."

"Tomorrow," Haruka replied, nodding slightly. "Tomorrow will be the right day. We will learn the truth of Nao's choice and I will finally know how to unlock these crystals. After that, we only to need decide if we _should_."

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The search for Michiru's planet crystal touched on a lot of important points, one being that each senshi is recognized and loved by her own god but not necessarily by any others in the Pantheon. That close relationship is much more important in the Crystals of Love series, but it was worth pointing out here. The Nao/Yuuka reversal (where Nao was the musician and Yuuka her student) emphasized the change that happens each time the souls are reborn. In the past, Nao was the clear leader and Yuuka her follower, while in the present the two are fairly evenly matched, learning their powers together and experiencing the world as a unified pair. In the future, Michiru will discover her powers much earlier than Haruka, leaving her as the teacher and leader while Haruka plays the part of reluctant soldier, leaving a gulf between them that hampers the development of their relationship until the incident at the Marine Cathedral.
> 
> I always intended for Yasuda Mari to die because Miki had to ascend to the position of Sixth War Queen by showing that she was willing to protect Haruka's heart and the people she loved. She almost slips up when she is explaining her choice, but when she remembers that Setsuna does not know about Haruka and Michiru's marriage, she changes her words to indicate that she sees the senshi as Haruka's beloved sisters. In truth, she only jumped in front of that knife because Michiru is Haruka's soul mate and harming her harms Miki's princess. That's why she chose to face the senshi with no weapons, because she could not bear the thought of harming Michiru. If you've read "Crystals of Love: Blood of the Rose", you remember that the Chancellor, Ayura, is the daughter of Sixth Telura who loved Haruka and wanted to serve her in a non-violent way after the fighting briefly mentioned in that fic. Telura is Ono Miki's daughter (now you get to wonder about that for the rest of the fic, especially since you all know that the Silver Millennium is completely destroyed). The entire point of these two chapters was to create continuity between this fic and that one.


	28. Sailor War

**Chapter 28: Sailor War**

* * *

_March 1, 8983_

* * *

Miranda was a desert, one of the most vibrant and colorful ones in the system. Crystal sands blanketed the planet, glowing in every shade of the rainbow under the artificial sun high in the dome. Haruka stood at the edge of the Golden Expanse, adjusting the controls on the side of her goggles to cut the glare of the sun reflecting from the sand, her fellow princesses arrayed behind her. She had procured Uranian desert armor for them, dressing them in suits designed to keep them cool and to prevent the loss of moisture in the dry, tortured air. Her own golden armor shone in the brilliant sun, white cloth wrapped around her head and flowing from her shoulders and waist, gloves covering her slender fingers and heavy boots crunching in the sand. "It's a long walk to the Chime Cliffs."

"Why can't we just teleport there?"

Michiru glanced over her shoulder at Makoto, the taller warrior dressed in the dark green and rust brown colors she loved so much. "For three thousand years, the energy of this moon has been in flux, just as it is on Metis. The only place safe enough to teleport in or out is Haruka's retreat; if you try to go anywhere else there is the possibility that the wild energy could tear you apart. From what we saw on Mars and Jupiter, I imagine that the deaths of two senshi caused this imbalance."

"Come." Haruka took off across the desert, leaving her small sanctuary far behind while Serenity and the senshi trailed behind her. She felt the wind screaming in her mind as it pushed for freedom, determined to stir the sands and attack the intruders heading into the desert, but she wrapped her fingers around her Space Sword and pushed back. She would control the wind for as long as she could, but the Uranian princess knew that the closer they got to the center of the disturbance, the harder it would be to control the weather.

_And what will you do then?_

Haruka glanced at her wife, the slender Neptunian walking silently by her side. The light blue cloth covering Michiru's head and the bottom of her face obscured any outward sign of emotion, but their bond was strong enough that they no longer needed words and facial expressions. _I will have to create a competing storm to push back the elements that Nao stirred up with her death. It will be a strain._

_We will help you._

The group walked for hours, following the slightly brightening glow in the heart of Haruka's keystone, passing tiny patches of scraggly plants drinking from springs too far underground to reach the surface, the princesses sipping just enough water from their canteens to stay hydrated and continue their search. Michiru kept an eye on her wife, sensing that the blonde was beginning to struggle to control the incessant wind, feeling the sting of tiny crystals on her exposed cheeks. She pulled her scarf higher on her face, knowing that Haruka noticed the action and blamed herself for not having enough control of her element to keep it from causing her wife and friends pain.

The keystone suddenly began to pulse with the same erratic light that the other keystones had emitted just before their senshi reached the other planet crystals. Haruka sighed as she stared across the sands, finally spotting a dark smudge against the horizon. "We are nearing the Chime Cliffs, and I fear that we will have to climb them."

"You don't like mountain climbing?"

Haruka glanced at Makoto out of the corner of her eye, refusing to answer until the group reached the base of the Chime Cliffs almost an hour later. The wind tore at them more viciously than before, only barely restrained by Haruka's sword as the senshi stared at the wall of dark red and purple stone towering overhead. "There is nothing easy about climbing the Chime Cliffs. Very few ever attempt it, and certainly very few outsiders have ever succeeded. It's so difficult to do that the War Queen Council will award a title to those few brave enough to reach the top."

"How do they know who truly climbs the cliffs?"

Haruka chuckled as she glanced at her keystone, tucking it into her armor as she raised her sword. "You'll see, Pyro." She reached into one of the multitude of pouches on her belt and pulled out a climbing stake, reaching up to jab it into the rock. The red and purple stone flashed an angry shade of orange and the stake fell to the ground, the end melted. "No normal metal can stick in the side of the cliff, so all climbers must rely on their own hands and strength to reach the top, with no help from safety ropes and stakes."

Rei glanced up the cliff-face, narrowing her amethyst eyes at the lip she could barely see overhead. "I've done some free climbing on Phobos in my time. I think I could do this. Haruka, I'm sure you have mountain climbing experience, as well."

"Not as much as I would like, to be honest. I don't have any titles in climbing yet. I was too busy practicing my swordplay."

"Could have used a bit more practice," Makoto quipped, grinning when the Uranian turned to glare at her. "I can climb that. It reminds me of the dormant volcanoes of Io where my brothers and I traveled years ago."

"Those won't remain dormant for long," Ami murmured, staring at her computer screen. "The cliff face isn't that sheer, but I don't see too many handholds. I doubt that I could climb to the top without assistance."

Michiru hummed to herself as she summoned her mirror, whispering at her talisman as an image appeared in the depths. "I believe that Minako's talisman has special properties that might help us."

The Venusian tilted her head as she summoned her golden chain, staring at the heart-shaped links. _"How will this help us?"_

"My mirror tells me that your chain can extend indefinitely when in your hands. We can chain ourselves together in case anyone slips. A talisman will be much safer and stronger than ropes."

Haruka turned to Michiru, passing her gaze across Minako, Ami, and Serenity before closing her eyes and sighing. "You plan to climb with us? All of you? Michi, my love, countless scores of Uranians have tried this climb and failed, often dying in the attempt, and we rarely have off-worlders even consider it."

"A Neptunian has never reached the top."

Michiru shrugged at Ami's warning, hooking her mirror back on her belt. "I plan to mirror the others, but the chain will keep us all safe." She raised an eyebrow as her wife checked the other senshi's climbing gloves, paying extra attention to Serenity. "If you knew your planet crystal was at the Chime Cliffs, why didn't you expect this climb?"

"I did expect it a little, but I truly hoped we would find my crystal in a cave at the base of the cliffs. I did not want to force you to attempt this climb."

"You aren't forcing us to do anything," Rei replied, flexing her fingers and touching the smooth red and purple stone in front of her. "I've been thinking about this climb for a couple of years."

"Eiki and Saiki have been practicing their cliff climbing skills for the last three years," Makoto murmured thoughtfully, checking Ami's armor and gloves. "It'll kill them if I get the title first."

Haruka took Michiru's hand and squeezed it, resting her forehead on her wife's. "How much climbing experience do you have, my love?"

"I've studied it," Michiru deflected, aqua eyes free of any worry. "I can do this, Ruka. I'll just mirror one of you like I did while we were fighting."

Haruka shrugged and turned to the rest of the group, pointing at a small panel on the front of her armor. "Uranian armor is made for climbing as well as surviving the desert. There are built in straps attached to a hook here in the front. Just release this catch, pull out the hook and fasten it in place. Light, run your chain through each hook with me on one end and you on the other. Ice will climb between me and Thunder, Princess you're in the middle, then Pyro, Michi, and Light. Are you all ready?"

Minako nodded as she passed her chain to Haruka, securing the end of it to the taller blonde's climbing hook before moving down the line of women, wrapping the loose end through her climbing hook and around her waist before turning to Michiru. "Haruka, why would you want Michiru climbing beside me instead of you?"

"Michi prefers it. She can read me worlds away but she says my aura is very subtle. You, however, are vibrant and very loud. If she could learn the Martian Blood Rage from an impression on your soul, I imagine she can copy mountain climbing from Rei's reflection on you very easily. Just stay open to Rei and she will learn from you."

"That I can do." Haruka reached for the nearest rock jutting out of the cliff, taking a deep breath as she began to climb. Silently, the others followed her, knowing that the Uranian was moving very slowly and carefully for their benefit. Rei, Makoto, and Haruka kept their attention split between the rock wall and their companions, helping them find appropriate hand-holds and correcting their grip. Slowly, the wind slamming against their backs, the group scuttled up the sheer rock face, Minako's glowing chain connecting them and providing some security.

"Can't you do anything about the wind?"

"I am, Thunder," Haruka replied, nodding toward the talisman glowing on her hip. "I can't stop it, but I managed to redirect it. Instead of trying to push us off the mountain, it's helping us stay attached. Trust me, the other way is worse."

"Haruka, I don't think I can hold on much longer," Serenity groaned, struggling to reach for the next crevice. "I don't have the benefit of your senshi strength."

Rei reached over and rested her hand on Serenity's arm, ribbons of red power linking the fire senshi to her princess. On the other side, Makoto echoed Rei's action, a green glow enveloping her hand and Serenity's arm, the moon princess smiling as she drew strength from her protectors. "If you can catalyze our abilities, it only makes sense that we can share our power with you. The ginzuishou and the Moon Queen receive their power from the other planets, after all."

Haruka pulled herself higher, feeling the slightest strain in even her trained warrior muscles, knowing that her fellow senshi must be suffering, as well. She reached down and touched her sword, calling the wind to her and forcing it to push them higher, helping them finish the last few feet of the arduous climb. With a sigh of relief, Haruka reached the top of the cliff and pulled herself over the edge of the mountain, turning back to help Ami up. She stood and released the chain from her armor while the rest of the women joined her on the top of the mountain, grateful to feel the ground beneath her feet once more. Michiru returned to her usual place by Haruka's side, turning to face the desert they had crossed, smiling at the simple beauty of the arid moon.

"What is that sound?"

Haruka turned to Rei, grinning as she pointed at a row of cacti blocking the path before them. "These are called the Chime Cliffs because of the sounds created by the wind passing across the spines of the _Jakti Lumas_ cacti that only grow here. They were planted by the goddess Uranus to provide music in her solitude many thousands of years ago. Very few women ever hear this melody."

"It sounds like the first strains of _Last Betrayal_ ," Ami remarked, already using her small computer to record the sound. Makoto moved closer to the plants, noting that most of them were seven or eight feet tall, thin arms branching toward the sky. "This is where Nao died, isn't it?"

Haruka freed her keystone from her armor, staring at the intense light emanating from the tiny gem. "Yes. We are very close." She joined Makoto beside the cacti and removed her glove, holding her palm inches from the heavily grooved skin of the largest one. "This is one of the most extraordinary plants in the system, Thunder. Its flowers cannot bloom without a great deal of iron, something that is quite scarce in this desert." She placed her hand against the dark green skin of the plant, never flinching as dozens of tiny needles shot into her skin, sucking a small amount of blood from her hand before she pulled away. The other women watched in wonder as the blood-gorged needles retracted back into the plant, a red blush staining the area Haruka had touched. Dozens of tiny flowers colored in intermingled golden yellow and navy blue sprouted from the tips of the slender branches, a gentle perfume filling the air as the wind passed over them. Haruka reached up and carefully plucked one of the feathery blooms, tucking it into one of the tiny pouches in her armor.

"Is that how the Council knows who managed to complete this climb?"

"Yes, Thunder, it is. To come to Uranus's hiding place and not offer blood to her cacti is considered sacrilege on my world, so everyone who reaches the top of the Chime Cliffs always touches a _Jakti_. Every plant is different, and apparently they each have different colored flowers." Michiru joined her wife near the tallest cluster of cacti, removing her glove and reaching for a different cactus than Haruka had chosen, watching as vibrant teal flowers with sapphire blue accents bloomed from her plant. She summoned her mirror as she plucked one of the flowers and stored it in a pouch on her armor.

"These plants are partially empathic," she murmured, staring into the swirling depths of her talisman while the other women offered blood to other cacti standing guard at the top of the Chime Cliffs. "Uranus created them to keep him company and to sing when he was lonely. The cacti in this first row are thousands of years old and they have learned to craft flowers based on the emotions and innate power of the person who offers blood. They especially like to take the blood of senshi, since our power can sustain them for centuries. In return for such an offering, they bloom flowers based on the colors of our senshi powers."

Rei cupped her fiery red and purple flower as Michiru finished her explanation, gently hiding the bloom in her armor. "It's quite a magnificent plant."

"They are more magnificent than that," Haruka replied, raising her talisman to the sky. At her silent command, the wind stopped, temporarily confused as she released it from her power. Moments later, it began to gust again, flowing toward them from the other side of the _Jakti Lumas_ and a new melody filled the sky. The new song was bright and vibrant, full of joy and hope in a stark contrast to the mourning melody of _The Last Betrayal_. The women smiled as they listened, unable to resist the feeling of contentment engendered by the sweet sound. "The cacti sing in thanks of our offering. They welcome us to this place."

"What place?"

Haruka grinned as she slipped between the two largest plants, leading the women through clusters of progressively smaller and younger _Jakti Lumas_ until they reached an empty expanse of golden sand mixed with dark navy blue, light teal, and vibrant sapphire grains just outside the entrance to a dark cave system that stretched for miles in every direction. Haruka slipped her keystone free, staring into the brilliant and now steady light before placing it on the ground on top of the multi-colored sand. "Where I died."

"But there's nothing here, Haruka. There's no monument or building or even a large rock formation. There's just . . . nothingness."

"I know, Pyro," the Uranian whispered. "That's what worries me." She sat in the sand, noting the utter lack of wind between the cacti field and the cave, waiting for Michiru to join her on the ground. "Serenity, Michiru might need your power to help her pull the vision forward. Our souls will fight this memory." Serenity nodded and completed the small circle, the Inner Senshi forming a second circle around them. This was their last planet, their last crystal, and their last memory. They knew it would be the hardest and the darkest, so they offered Haruka as much support as they could.

_I don't want to do this._

_I know._ Michiru looked up and met Haruka's eyes, pulling her talisman out of her armor and placing it on the sand on top of her wife's keystone. She rested her fingers on the handle, pouring her power into the mirror as Haruka's long fingers reached for the dark swirling surface. Serenity's small fingers just barely touched the edge of the talisman and the powers of the other senshi surrounded them, plunging the world into darkness.

* * *

_(Three Thousand Years Ago)_

"What was that last night?"

"What was what?"

"Do not play games with me, Setsuna! I know your true self. We have been partners too long for you to prevaricate now." The tall Uranian stormed across the room, a heavy braid of long golden hair whipping around her frame as she came to a stop next to the green-haired Plutonian queen. "Reiko and Minami did something last night."

Setsuna sighed and pulled away, reaching for her Time Key as she walked to the balcony of her throne room and stared across her world. In the sky, Pluto's ever-present moon filled the sky, Charon big enough to create a considerable gravitational force on the tiny world. Behind the pair, dozens of technicians and privileged nobles stared at computer screens that reported on the activity of the Time Gate and monitored thousands of time streams every second for even the slightest abnormality. "Your worry is unfounded, my old friend. Reiko and Minami _almost_ did something last night," Setsuna corrected. "They are not powerful enough to complete the exchange that their planet crystals demanded of them and they are simply too old to begin the process."

"The process of what?"

Setsuna shrugged, running her fingers across the runes embedded in the Time Key. "In order to create Star Senshi, two powerful Planet Senshi must combine their powers, but they have to be in synch at a young age, certainly before the end of their third decade. Reiko and Minami are both well into their sixth decade and much too old for their souls to start the bonding process. The fact that they are powerful enough to try indicates that within three or four generations we could have Star Senshi once more."

Nao tilted her head to one side, feathery bangs framing her face as she regarded the older woman. The pale scar that ran across her face from just over her left eye and across her nose to her right cheek made her look older and more severe than her fifty-six years would suggest, though otherwise she was just as strong and fit as she was the day she had inherited her planet crystal. "Star Senshi? I thought those were a myth."

"I can assure you that they are not. When the Silver Millennium was new, there were hundreds of Star Senshi spread throughout the galaxy. Sailor Sol, Sailor Moonlight, Sailor Alcor, Sailor Pollux . . . but over time the power of the senshi lineages waned. The gods had to breed into the royal lineages to empower their avatars once more, but such an infusion of divine energy takes time to blossom. Some of the other planetary systems still have Star Senshi, but only now are the Planet Senshi here becoming strong enough to create them once more."

"So we will have them again in a few generations? Sailor Sol and the others from our ancient legends?"

Setsuna shook her head. "Not Sailor Sol, but the others will come. Tell Reiko and Minami not to worry about that surge of power but not to try and repeat the process. If they continue to attempt something they do not have the power or harmony for, they could become injured or damage their crystals."

Nao nodded, fingering the sword on her belt. "My daughter's granddaughter could see the revival of the Star Senshi. She could be witness to the Golden Age foretold in all the prophecies. She could be the Ultimate Senshi."

"She could," Setsuna agreed, a twinge of uneasiness in her voice. Thousands of years earlier she had seen visions and written prophecies the indicated a darker, more violent future. Pushing her concern away, she smiled at her taller friend. "And I will be honored to serve with her."

* * *

"Star Senshi? Does she really think they could return?"

Nao shrugged, stretched across one of the largest couches in the senshi gathering room, fingering the hair on the end of her braid. "Setsuna thinks so. She was very excited about the prospect."

"The Dark Queen? Excited?"

"It does seem unlikely," Chieko agreed, reading through a number of inconsequential reports on her computer as she answered her wife's incredulous question. "Did she say anything else, Nao?"

"Hopefully she told you to stop lounging so carelessly," Yuuka admonished as she entered the room, tapping one of Nao's boots in a demand that the Uranian move her feet. The blonde chuckled as she obeyed, giving her wife space to sit. "I have the new reports from Antares."

Nao took one of the small pads in Yuuka's hand, scanning through the reports as Mariya and Reiko each took one. Chieko, too absorbed in the internal politics scrolling across her screen, ignored her fellow senshi, and Minami continued to polish her sword, trusting that her wife would fill her in later. "The rebel forces are getting stronger. Why can't the planetary senshi put down the uprising?"

"Queen Rishiya won't allow the use of senshi powers against the civilians. She thinks that there is some outside force, something stronger motivating the mundanes. She wants to draw it out and let her senshi fight that, instead. It seems that she has called in at least two dozen Star Senshi to help protect important public areas."

"Two dozen?" Minami released a low whistle as she considered the numbers. "There aren't more than three dozen in that part of space. Has Kinmoku replied to the threat?"

Mariya nodded, greenish hazel eyes scanning through the report. "It seems that the queen has offered her senshi and the few Star Senshi under her command but refuses to deploy them until an actual target is found. She doesn't want to risk the same uprising on her world in case this is more sinister than we currently think."

"Do you think anything like that could happen here?"

"No, of course not. Serenity keeps peace here but the Antares system doesn't have a unifying power like the ginzuishou to protect them from such violence."

* * *

Yuuka hummed to herself as she brushed her shoulder-length sapphire hair, eyeing her wife as the blonde polished her talisman. "Must you do that in bed?"

"Why not?" Nao looked up from her work, emerald eyes confused. "When Kiruko and Tsukihiko clean their weapons in bed you think it's adorable."

"They're barely teenagers," Yuuka replied, narrowing her pale blue eyes. "They don't have wives who prefer clean sheets at night. And in any case, your talisman is always clean and doesn't require such mundane polishing techniques."

Nao shrugged in defeat, placing her sword on the bedside table beside Yuuka's mirror. "Kazuhiko called today to announce his engagement."

"To Rika, I hope?"

"Yes. He was worried that his position as your Consort might cause some problems, but I assured him that since the position is purely ceremonial he can be married like any normal Uranian. I also promised him that we would not request his services again, in accordance with Rika's wishes."

Yuuka nodded, placing her brush carefully on the vanity. Like most Neptunians, she was very neat and kept her vanity as organized and clutter-free as possible. "I'm nearly too old to worry about children anymore, to be honest. Your brother gave me three children and I am content enough with them. You told my cousin Hideaki that you were finished after only the twins, even though he and his wife have often said that they are willing to help us have many more."

"One pregnancy was one too many," Nao groaned, rubbing her hand over her toned stomach in memory of the children she had carried. "And, of course, I ended up with twins. You at least had easy pregnancies. Ruria, Mai, and Yuuji never caused you a minute of problems."

Yuuka smiled as she joined Nao on their bed, reaching out to grab the tall warrior's heavy braid. "You give me plenty enough for all three of them. If you insist on wearing your hair long, you could at least take better care of it. Look at all of these split ends!"

"I trim it," Nao replied defensively, pulling her hair free of Yuuka's grasp. She didn't have many split ends at all, not since she began living on Neptune with her wife's cadre of trained beauticians badgering her daily to let them take care of her and her floor-length hair. On the rare occasion that her golden locks were free of any military-style braid, her golden locks were the envy of the Neptunian and Uranian courts. "I like the way it swings when I turn or run, moving after I've stopped. It makes me feel majestic."

"Nao the Majestic?"

"I will be remembered for something, but hopefully that is not the title they pick." She reached up and ran a long finger down her wife's cheek, smiling gently at the smaller woman. Nao was a great queen, a powerful senshi, and a fine leader in both war and peace times. She had conquered at least six incursions into the system in her fifty-plus years as Sailor Uranus, and she never flinched in pain or fear. The scar on her face, a remnant of the Mars Riots, served as a reminder to her subjects that she was tough and strong, a force to be feared, but Yuuka only saw the gentle woman hidden underneath that armor of bravado. In their room, where no one else could see, Nao surrendered control to her beloved wife. "They call you Yuuka the Magnificent already, you know."

"I've heard," the Neptunian replied dryly, resisting the urge to roll her eyes. "I brought them music and art, but they do not see that the talent has always been there, inside them, and my efforts just awakened them to their full potential. They should praise themselves, not me, for the transformation of our society."

"They will praise you and whisper your name with reverence until the end of time," Nao promised, leaning her head forward and letting it rest on Yuuka's chest. "I only hope that my name is a war cry of courage and strength and not just another name in a long list of ancestors for the duchesses."

"War Queens will boast that they are your descendants, my love," Yuuka promised, carefully freeing Nao's long hair from its tight braid. Golden waves of crimped hair spread across the dark blue sheets, covering the pair of queens like a blanket of star-spun golden silk. "You will be remembered."

Nao smiled as she looked up into Yuuka's pale blue eyes, leaning forward to kiss her wife. "Good." She ran her long fingers across Yuuka's soft cheeks, emerald eyes bright. "Uranus has been hanging out with Aphrodite again even though I told her how much it upsets me. Would you like to help me show her my displeasure again?"

"Always."

* * *

"The reports from Antares are getting worse, Setsuna. I must send my senshi to help them put down the uprising."

Sailor Pluto stared into her Garnet Orb, red eyes displaying almost no emotion. "I have to concur, Majesty. Rishiya has been forced to deploy her senshi to stop the rebels on her outer worlds, only to discover that the leaders are rogue Star Senshi."

"Star Senshi?! Setsuna, how can that be?"

"Senshi can be corrupted and controlled, but it takes a powerful force to twist a senshi of such strength. When we lost contact with Mirin, three of the Orion systems, and the Centauri system, I believe that these rogue senshi were to blame."

"Can you fight them?"

Pluto turned her gaze toward her queen, sighing at the worry in those pale lavender eyes. "We will fight them. Send word to Kinmoku that we are headed out and that we require the services of her senshi, as well. We will end this Sailor War before it reaches the Silver Millennium; I can assure you of that."

* * *

Nao stood proudly on the lowest balcony of her palace, watching as thousands upon thousands of troops filled shuttles and headed for the warships orbiting overhead. Her two children and Yuuka's three stood behind her, monitoring the preparations for war as her assistants. Yuuka's two daughters and son were all almost a decade older than hers, having been born long before Nao was willing to endure a pregnancy, but Kiruko and Tsukihiko were already nearly twenty years old and fine warriors in their own right. Very soon Ruria and Kiruko would be strong enough to inherit their mothers' Planet Crystals, hopefully after the mess in Antares had been sorted out.

"We only have one more ship to load, Mother," Mai reported, tapping commands into her holo-pad. Though the five children were not all siblings, they referred to both Nao and Yuuka as "mother", disregarding any physical relationship they shared with the Consorts who fathered them. It was an imperfect familial situation, but since two women were incapable of having children together, it was the best solution devised by the Royal Courts to the odd reality of senshi soul mates.

"Good. What are the reports from the other fleets?"

"Queen Chieko announces that her science and medical ships are fully loaded and stocked with supplies. Queen Minami reports that her Elite Swords are aboard her flagship along with translators that speak Prime Antarean and psychiatrists as requested. Queen Reiko and Queen Mariya report that Martian and Jovian fleets are fully deployed and waiting above Pluto for the jump. Queen Junko says that she and her daughters will bring two fleets from Saturn to the rendezvous point and Mother says that her fleet will be ready, as well." Mai grinned as she read the end of the report from Neptune. "She says she knows that you don't think Neptunian warriors will be much good, but she has picked the best for you."

Nao grinned and summoned her Space Sword. "Tell Yuuka that I never doubted her. Are the Plutonian fleets and Lunarian medical support vessels still waiting for us at the rendezvous point?"

"Affirmative."

"Then we will leave."

* * *

"The latest reports from Antares indicate that most of the fighting has been moved to the ninth planet, a huge rocky world used mostly for agriculture to support the rest of the system. Over the last two decades of fighting, it is mostly barren now."

"The rogue Star Senshi have hundreds of thousands of troops stationed there and have been using their powers to move supplies in past the blockade erected by Queen Rishiya," Ruria continued as her brother silenced, fingers flying across the controls. "The Antarean senshi report that we will be needed to help fight through the enemy troops and reach some sort of large complex that used to house the leaders of the world. Now the senshi live there, using their powers to prevent incursions."

"Fine. Have the leader of the Star Senshi here transmit a suitable landing location where we can discharge our troops. This conflict should be over in a matter of days."

* * *

"Your senshi healing should have taken care of that by now." Setsuna waved her hand at Nao's broken left arm, still immobilized by a slim cast and held in a sling against her chest. The break had occurred during a recent skirmish with the rogue forces, caused by the heavy mace Sailor Sharp Falcon carried. The blow had shattered Nao's bone into so many splinter-like pieces that Chieko and the Lunarian surgeons had only been able to fasten the pieces back together and hope that Nao's healing could finish the process.

"I know," the blonde replied, running her hand over her face. She was tired, weary of the constant fighting, and even her Uranian determination had begun to waver. "Yuuka keeps reminding me that I have to eat more, take care of myself, but we never get a moment of rest on the front line."

"You should remove yourself to the center battalions and allow yourself time to heal. The other senshi can continue the fight in your stead." The third senshi present at the strategy meeting kept her voice soft and gentle, hoping to convince the taller woman to take a rest. Her long hair was colored in an odd mix of red and gold that let her stand out even among the vibrantly-colored Star Senshi she commanded. Hanami was the Star Senshi of Alderamin, but she had adopted a new name for herself hundreds of years earlier as she took on the role of leading the Star Senshi after the collapse of the last Council. Sailor Galaxia had gathered the last few dozen Star Senshi in Antares to fight the rogues, but she was well aware that their chances of winning were growing slim.

"Hanami, we have been here fighting for almost three years. This war should have been over in the first week with all the troops we brought! I don't know how, but those senshi are forcing us to fight for every bloody inch and we are beginning to lose more battles than we win. Seventeen Star Senshi have fallen and Rishiya has lost three of her planet senshi, none of whom had children old enough to transform and take their places on the front line. Yuuka and Chieko have shown me the numbers, and even a Uranian knows when she is outnumbered. There must be a way to end this." She turned her emerald eyes toward Hanami, shaking her head before the older woman could speak. "There must be a way other than by _glassing_ this planet."

Hanami turned to Setsuna, a dark knowing in her bright red eyes. "Tell her why the rogue senshi are so powerful, Se. If she knows the real reason, she may understand that my solution is the only one."

Setsuna leaned back against her chair, looking oddly worn in the dim light. "Hanami, your mother told you the truth of the gods and our power long ago, and you cursed her for the knowledge. Why would I now tell my friend the same thing, knowing that she does not want such a burden?"

"Have you spoken with Queen Junko recently?"

"What do you mean?"

Hanami sighed and fingered the hilt of her heavy sword. "She and her daughters have been fighting these past few weeks, pushing back against the Liyar River incursion, and I heard that her youngest child, Sarumi, asked why she was not allowed to fight with her sisters. Her scythe is ready, she says."

"Scythe?!"

"Sailor Saturn," Nao whispered, leaning forward. "Is our danger really so bad that she would rise?"

"The situation is grim," Hanami agreed; "if these senshi manage to destroy this system, if they kill all of our Star Senshi, there will only be a handful of solar systems with Planet Senshi strong enough to create more. Your system and Kinmoku are the primary ones, and they would fall quickly without senshi to protect them. We must stop them here."

"Chaos is determined to wipe out all of the senshi," Setsuna murmured, closing her eyes momentarily. "I suppose I should tell you the truth, Nao, if Sailor Saturn is threatening to rise. I don't think you are going to like it."

"Tell me anyway."

"Long ago, on the other side of this galaxy, a huge blue-white supergiant star gave birth to seven rocky worlds and seventeen gas giants. In this huge solar system, life grew on three of the rocky worlds and evolved beyond basic mortality, creating a single unified society. These beings, evolving early in the life of this galaxy, were immortal long before any other worlds developed sentience. Alone and unsure of themselves, these people began to use their powers to alter their world and explore the natural forces around them. They awakened a force that would become known as Chaos and its sister force of Order, but they quickly lost control of both. The unleashed force of Chaos gained dominance over Order and forced the star to supernova, destroying the entire system and disrupting the galactic orbits of several nearby solar systems. The people who survived founded colonies thousands of light-years away from their original home that presumably persist to this day, most hoping to forget their mistake, but a few of them chose to take responsibility for what they had released onto the galaxy. Several small groups of warriors spread throughout the Milky Way Galaxy to hunt Chaos down, and a few groups made it to the stars on our side of the center.

"One of these groups consisted of the brightest minds and most powerful warriors from the lost world. The leader of the expedition was War General Chronos, his wife Captain Ananke, her second-in-command Commander Uranus, Science Officer Gaia, Security Chief Tartarus, and Medics Ophion and Eurynome. Do you recognize these names?"

"Yes," Nao replied, shocked. "The Primordial Gods."

Setsuna chuckled, nodding. "We weren't called gods back then. There were no humans to invent the word. They were hunting Chaos, and they found it on Earth, trying to hide from Order. They also found that it had learned to procreate, giving birth to Nyx and Erebus, who in turn had many very powerful children of their own. Erebus wanted Chronos and his crew to leave Chaos alone, let him be on that primitive world, but Nyx could see the danger in letting her father have free reign on the galaxy. She sided with Order, helping the gods trap Chaos deep inside the Earth where it could not endanger or destroy anything else. Gaia, scanning the planet, realized that Chaos would continue to influence the vessel holding it, so she told her fellows that they had to stay on Earth and keep the prison closed. They created a balance between the weakened Order and trapped Chaos, taking up residence on that primordial world.

"Those people who would one day be called Gods realized that the Earth had less power than their original home world, and that Sol would never support the kind of experiments that had created Chaos in the first place. They each chose a specialty and began to develop their powers once more, albeit much more carefully. Chronos, Ananke, and Tartarus went into seclusion, eventually becoming lost in their own meditations, though their presence in the Earth was enough to maintain the prison. Ophion and Eurynome moved to the Moon, craving silence and the unchanging beauty offered by the small satellite, leaving Gaia and Uranus the Earth.

"Gaia turned her attention to the world, seeing herself as its mother, and she loved all of her children. As life evolved and changed on the world, she watched it and guarded it, becoming enamored of the beings slowly becoming sentient on her world. Uranus, however, became worried that Chaos was beginning to negatively influence the beings that would one day be called humans, corrupting them even as they learned to speak. He warned Gaia that they would not be strong enough to contain Chaos with the others in meditation, so she agreed to give him children to help them guard the prison. She gave him twelve beautiful Titan children, but none of them were willing to take up the mantle of guarding the prison. They all wanted to learn their powers, now greatly diminished compared to their parents' due to the world of their birth, and Uranus grew angry at them. Having chosen the sky as his domain, he spent years watching from afar as the humans grew violent and his children grew complacent. He wanted stronger children, ones whose vanity could not keep them from the duties he demanded of them, and Gaia gave him six more children, known to you as the Cyclopes and the Hekatonkheires. They were willing to guard, but Uranus did not approve of them, demanding even stronger offspring from his partner.

"Gaia became furious at him, both for not trusting that she could watch over the humans on her own and for hating his offspring. So she created a sickle of flint and asked her Titan children to destroy their father's power. Only Cronos was willing, and he chased Uranus out of the sky and castrated him, tossing his genitals into the sea, creating foam from whence Aphrodite was born. From Uranus's blood flowing across the earth, the Giants were born, and these beings at last were strong enough and powerful enough to guard the gates of Chaos's eternal prison. The Erinyes, women you call the Furies, were also born from this blood, and they decided to watch the humans, punish them for any actions that could be evil enough to have been influenced by Chaos. Finally, the Meliae were born, nymphs of the ash tree, and they took the injured Uranus far away, to a silent moon orbiting the seventh world of this system where he could rest. Shocked by his son's actions but finally glad to have strong guardians of Chaos, Uranus remained in seclusion with only the occasional company of his nymph daughters until the day I and my friends found him and Zeus granted him a new, female form.

"Chaos was more dangerous than the young Titans could guess and they soon learned that Uranus had been right all along. Not long after Cronos took his father's place, he became convinced that his own son would overthrow him, and he decided to eat his own children. Rhea bore him five children in succession, each of whom he swallowed whole, but she hid the sixth child far away, letting her husband swallow a rock, instead. Her son, Zeus, grew strong and returned to the Titans' home, killing his father as Chaos predicted and freeing his siblings. Then Order whispered in his ear, urging him to stop living on the Earth where the corruptive influence of Chaos was so strong, so he and the other gods created an alternate plane linked to that world but separate from it. They called it Mount Olympus, and as long as they lived there nothing Chaos said or did would hurt them."

"How did Chaos escape? If it's influencing the Star Senshi here, certainly the gods failed in their containment."

Hanami waved her hand at Setsuna, offering to explain. "The ancients did not realize that they needed to find a permanent solution to keep Chaos and Order in check, but Zeus and the younger gods searched for a way to balance and control both without either one threatening Sol or its planets. Se stumbled upon the solution almost by accident. She, Serenity, and Tranquility fathered children among the humans of Earth and the other eight worlds in their system, finding that these demigods had potential beyond anything the gods could accomplish. Unlike their immortal parents, these children could call forth the spirit of a planet and channel that power through their form to become super warriors. However, such a power is part of the domain of Order, so for it to exist, Chaos must balance the act of creating such a powerful being. The woman Tranquility impregnated on Earth offered herself to keep the Order and Chaos level, and she became Balance, with the power to control both and possessing an innate neutrality that the gods lacked. Once she was empowered, Chaos could be safely released into the galaxy once more.

"There is a price, then for every senshi born. Every child of order creates an equal child of darkness, which has kept our galaxy safe for thousands of years. Chaos, however, has found a way around that rule, corrupting many of the servants of Order to its will. These dark Star Senshi cannot be allowed to survive or Balance will falter and we will all be destroyed even as the first home of our gods was obliterated."

Nao glanced down at her lap, eyes unreadable. "When I first heard about the Antares Uprising, I just thought it was some local malcontents agitating for independence. It's happened before in other systems and the local senshi can usually negotiate some sort of compromise between the ruling Queen and her subjects. When we learned that Rishiya had deployed her Planet Senshi to fight what we assumed were malcontent farmers and local nobility, I admit that I was shocked, but it's not like we didn't have the Wars of Unification on Jupiter where senshi were required to end the violence. This is beyond anything I could have imagined, Hanami, and I don't know how to fight Star Senshi. We have managed to capture two of them in three years of intense fighting, and only one was killed in the ten years it took to force all of them here to be confined on this planet. How, then, can we stop the rest of them?"

"I have some ideas for a covert strike on their base, but our group must be small. I will take seven of my remaining Star Senshi, Rishiya's single Star Senshi and four of her Planet Senshi, the three Kinmokusei Senshi, the three of us, and three others from your system to infiltrate the main complex as soon as your arm is sufficiently healed. Our troops will create a huge diversion in the south, near the old research installation, creating a gap in the north we can slip through. If we can capture their leader, we should be able to find a way to drive Chaos off this world without having to destroy it."

"And if we fail, Hanami?"

The Star Senshi shrugged, acting unconcerned despite the turbulence in her bright red eyes. "Then your Sailor Saturn, empowered by the gods to be the final stand against Chaos when all else fails, will rise and destroy this world. Either way, whatever happens in the next few days, the Sailor Wars _end_ here."

* * *

Sailor Uranus crouched low north of the huge complex, twenty senshi arrayed behind her as she waited for the guards to respond to the fighting on the south side of the complex. She could hear reports in her earpiece, Yuuka announcing the success of their sudden attack in the dead of night while Chieko counted casualties. She listened as Sailor Sharp Falcon was captured and her battalion eliminated, pleased that her army's casualties were quite low. The guards on the north side of the building were called away as the fighting in the south intensified, an explosion of senshi energy shaking the ground. As soon as the coast was clear, she slowly moved forward, Galaxia and Mars on one side and Venus with Jupiter on the other. The three Kinmoku senshi followed, then Pluto, Arrakis, Polaris, Sirius, Antares, Alcor, Rigel, Arcturus, and Betelgeuse. The four Antarean Planet Senshi formed a rear guard, keeping the other senshi safe.

Uranus reached the door to the complex, using her sword to break the lock and slip inside. She moved deeper into the maze-like building, surprised at the lack of resistance as the group infiltrated the command center and searched for the large rooms deeper inside that they had seen on their maps. She had studied charts of the complex for years, planning just such an attack, but this was the first time that the enemy's forces had been depleted enough to allow such an incursion. She glanced at Galaxia, noting her worry reflected in the older senshi's hardened gaze, signaling to the senshi following her that they should be on high alert.

Uranus reached a large set of intricately engraved doors, recognizing them from her studies of the complex. Raising her sword, she pushed the door open, leading her group into the darkness of the silent room, every sense on high alert. She heard the other senshi enter behind her as the doors swung closed, Galaxia reaching out to touch her arm. "It is most certainly a trap."

"Of course it is," a voice mocked from the shadows, a voice Uranus and Galaxia instantly recognized. A tall, slender woman with dark green hair stepped out of the shadows, her silver and black senshi uniform covered in strange decorations and weapons not often seen among the Antarean and Solarian Senshi. She drew a short-handled weapon with a blade on one end and a club on the other, grinning as she twirled it in her hand. "You must be Sailor Alderamin."

"Sailor Galaxia," the golden-uniformed senshi replied, drawing her red-handled sword. "I have not seen you in almost a hundred years, Sailor Deneb."

"Sailor Silver Chimera," the slender woman corrected, grinning maliciously as a dozen of her companions stepped into the light. The senshi under Galaxia's command moved closer together for protection, all of them realizing that they might outnumber the enemy senshi, but they were not nearly as powerful. "We have been waiting for months for you to attack us, Galaxia. When you captured Sharp Falcon, I realized that you were coming at last. I will be glad to introduce you to your death."

Galaxia and Uranus raised their swords, Venus uncoiling her chain while Mars fitted an arrow to her bow. Without another word, the senshi attacked. Silver Chimera ducked Galaxia's attack, jumping back to avoid Uranus's attack and Mars's arrow. The rest of the senshi splintered into small groups to fight the other eleven twisted servants of Chaos, many of them with very little hope of success. Sailor Pluto dodged Sailor Copper Wolf's staff, glaring contemptuously at the smaller senshi as she readied her own attack. A cloud of dark black and crimson energy surrounded Copper Wolf, her _Dead Scream_ attack altering the flow of time around her target. The enemy senshi screamed as she aged in seconds, her body fading to dust as her Star Crystal turned dark. Staggering, Sailor Pluto fell to the ground, too exhausted by her attack to continue the fight, Mars and Jupiter moving to protect their weakened companion.

Uranus lost track of time as the bloody fight continued, grunting in pain as one of Chimera's blows nearly shattered her femur, grinning maniacally as Sailor Rigel managed to break Chimera's left arm before falling to the ground with an enemy sword in her chest. Mars, Venus, and Jupiter managed to kill another senshi, but they were too late to save Sailor Alcor. Galaxia screamed in rage as she rushed toward the back of the room, taking on two opponents and giving the three Kinmoku senshi time to regroup. Uranus faced Chimera alone, losing strength even as she became more determined to win. They both knew that the Sailor Wars were finally coming to an end, the outcome resting on their shoulders. Uranus struggled to put weight on her injured leg as Chimera moved to attack again, ignoring her useless arm in her determination to win. Steadying herself, Uranus raised her sword and felt golden power fill her strong form, calling on her planet to assist her in defeating the dark senshi.

In the instant before she struck, the doors to the chamber slammed open, hundreds of warriors pouring into the light. The children of the various warrior senshi led the charge, having overcome the mundane armies of the dark senshi at last. Nao's son, Tsukihiko, and his twin sister, Kiruko, led the charge, both highly decorated war heroes in the Antares Uprising and generals in the Uranian Army. Kiruko buried her sword in Sailor Onyx Hawk's gut, laughing as her momentum carried her forward into the tangle of warring senshi. Tsukihiko paused beside Rigel's prone form, determining that she was dead before moving on to Sailor Polaris and summoning medics to heal her wound. Pluto waved him away as Uranus's sharp cry of pain filled the room. In the chaos caused by the mundane army, Chimera had struck, slicing a huge gash across the blonde woman's ribs and forcing her to her knees.

Kiruko and Tsukihiko moved at the same instant, fury filling them at the sight of their mother injured and at the mercy of the dark senshi, Kiruko throwing two knives at her enemy. Tsukihiko moved closer, drawing his own dagger and burying it in Chimera's chest, shock filling his dark eyes as her sword sliced into him. His body fell to the ground, the gathered senshi staring in disbelief at the dark blood dripping from Chimera's sword.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

Uranus leapt to her feet, ignoring her injuries and pain as she swung her sword at Chimera's neck, slicing the woman's head off. She stared in silence as the body of the enemy senshi crumpled to the ground at her feet, blood covering the floor. Nao dropped her transformation and fell to her knees, pulling her son's body into her arms, tears streaking her cheeks. Behind her, the enemy senshi were captured at last, ending the battle and the war that had been raging in the Antarean system for over a decade.

" _Thisssss issss the pricccce of yourrrrr warrrrr,"_ a dark voice whispered in the suddenly silent room. _"I have won; you arrrrrre broken. I have won."_

Nao felt her transformation cloak her form once more, blood still staining her white uniform as she stood, Tsukihiko's body in her arms. Galaxia met her eyes across the room and bowed her head, silently admitting that the voice, certainly the voice of Chaos, was right. The dark senshi might all be dead or captured, but there were precious few Star Senshi left and hundreds of thousands of mundanes had lost their lives, as well. Kiruko joined her mother, taking her murdered brother's hand in hers as she wept.

Pluto pushed herself to her feet, staring into her Time Key. "We must evacuate this world. Chaos has integrated itself into the very rocks we stand on, corrupting this planet and twisting the minds of all who live here. It has abandoned its senshi but it can wait here for thousands of years until it is strong enough to strike again."

"Sound the evacuation," Galaxia whispered.

* * *

"What are we to do now? We defeated the senshi but we cannot contain Chaos again. If left free, it will corrupt more women into its service and start the Sailor Wars all over again. That cannot be allowed to happen."

Sailor Pluto turned her gaze toward the planet rotating beneath them, conscious of her best friend sitting silently in the corner with Yuuka and their dead son, wishing she could have spared Nao that pain. Setsuna had birthed hundreds of children in her lifetimes and she had watched all of them die, but she had never been human enough to understand that broken, destroyed look in the limping blonde's eyes. Sailor Antares, who had spoken, waited patiently for the senshi of Pluto to offer some suggestion, Galaxia leaning on the computer terminal beside them. "Setsuna, I think I know a way to contain Chaos, but we must free it from that planet first. It needs to be weakened."

"We must destroy the planet."

The senshi on the bridge turned toward the small voice, shock in their eyes at the young girl who had spoken. Sarumi was Queen Junko's youngest child, cursed by the power that had been given to her line through the bones of Cronos, and she, like every female child of her lineage, had the potential to be called as Sailor Saturn. The ten-year-old girl held a tall, purple and black scythe in her right hand, her tiny form covered by a white uniform with black and purple bows and skirt. On her forehead, hidden under her light purple hair, a golden tiara with a white stone marked her as the first Sailor Saturn in hundreds of years.

"No," Pluto whispered, crimson eyes wide in shock. "The danger is over; why did you awaken now? I did not even feel you rise . . ."

"I was not needed during the fight, only for this one moment. I must destroy this world to free Chaos so that Sailor Galaxia can complete her plan to seal it inside herself." Sarumi smiled gently at Pluto, tightening her tiny fingers on the handle of her scythe. "Please do not feel sorry for me. This is my duty, and I must fulfill it."

"You're barely ten years old," Pluto whispered, crouching down and running her fingers through the child's purple hair. "Why have you been chosen to die?"

"An odd question for someone as old as you to ask," Sarumi pointed out. "Everyone dies, Setsuna, especially warriors like us."

"You aren't old enough to choose a warrior's life."

"I am a child of the Line of Cronos," Sarumi replied, her young voice that of an adult trying to explain a complicated concept in simple words to a child. "I am born to be a warrior, even though only one in a thousand daughters has to walk this path. I will be a warrior. I am the Sailor Saturn who will destroy the ninth planet of the Antares System, I am the Sailor Saturn who will provide an end to the Sailor Wars, and I am proud that I will be remembered for that. Let me fight in my way, let me win in my way."

Sailor Pluto nodded slowly and stood, closing her eyes and turning her head toward the viewscreen, seeing the truth in Sarumi's words. "Go, child, and be the weapon we need today. Go end this madness."

* * *

"Setsuna, give me your report."

The dark queen shook her head as she stared out across the Lunarian landscape, glad to see familiar cities and her own yellow sun once more. She had forgotten the simple beauty of a world bathed in soft yellow instead of harsh red. "We lost Sailors Alcor, Rigel, and Sirius in the final battle, as well as one of the three Kinmoku senshi and five of Rishiya's Planet Senshi. Seventeen Star Senshi had been lost before that, leaving us only a half dozen on this side of the galaxy. The senshi of the world destroyed by Sailor Saturn died with the mundane troops, thankfully, otherwise she would have suffered the loss of her Planet Crystal when the world was reduced to fragments. We located the largest remaining chunk of the planet and created a temporary atmosphere around it to allow Galaxia time to absorb the remainder of Chaos into herself."

"She took Chaos? How is that possible, Setsuna?"

"I do not know, but considering her ancestry and power, I believe that it will work for a while. She cannot contain it forever, but I hope that her strength of will is great enough to avoid being corrupted by it. This is a temporary solution, at best. She and the last five Star Senshi left for the Orion Systems as we returned home."

"How are my senshi?"

Setsuna sighed as she finally collapsed into a chair. "Not good, Serenity. We lost so many hundreds of thousands of men and women on that planet that it could be centuries before our fleets reach that level of war-readiness again. Junko's daughter Sarumi is dead, of course, and Nao's son, as well. She's not taking it well."

"Go to her, Setsuna. Console her."

* * *

"Nao?"

"Come in, Setsuna." Her voice was dark, soft, and full of intense pain. She was a fine warrior but this depression was something Nao did not know how to fight.

"Your people see you as a hero, Nao. They see your courage and power in that final battle, and they have given you a name that will resound through the ages."

"Nao the Conqueror," the blonde replied bitterly, sinking deeper into the shadows. "I lost my son, Setsuna; nothing else matters."

"You ended the dark maneuverings of Chaos, finished the Sailor Wars, and freed the Antares system from the worst uprising in its history. You are a hero."

"I am _weak_ ," Nao hissed, leaning forward angrily. Her emerald eyes were bloodshot, tears still lingering on her cheeks. "I could not defeat even one senshi on my own, and I had no strength or will to fight until Tsukihiko bravely attacked a woman he could never kill. My own mundane son did what a senshi was too weak to accomplish. You said that we were almost strong enough to create Star Senshi, but I don't feel that strong."

"I said that it would take a couple of generations—"

"Generations that we don't have!" Nao shot to her feet, heavy braid swinging behind her as she stormed across the room. "We are weak, nearly powerless against the Star Senshi. If we just sit here, trying to make Star Senshi for the next three generations, we will become a target to the allies of Chaos. They attacked Antares because that system had two dozen Planet Senshi and its own Star Senshi in residence. If we had Star Senshi here or Planet Senshi strong enough to create them, we could become a target."

Setsuna felt her veins fill with ice, her thoughts suddenly whirling in shock as her skin paled. "You can't be serious. Nao, what are you suggesting?"

"Galaxia cannot control Chaos for long. A hundred years at most, then it will begin to corrupt her. You said that there must always be a balance between Order and Chaos, and that for every Planet and Star Senshi born, a servant of Chaos will gain power. At the moment, Galaxia contains every ounce of Chaos, and it will just grow stronger within her as we grow stronger here. The Star Senshi have been growing fewer in number over the past thousand years, which hopefully has weakened Chaos to the point where we can control it. We cannot risk more being born."

Setsuna backed away from the taller woman, finally realizing that Nao's condition had very little to do with her lost son and almost everything to do with the choice she was asking Setsuna to help her make. "Nao, what you're suggesting . . ."

"I'm right, aren't I? The longer we prevent more Star Senshi from being born, the longer we keep our Planet Senshi weak, the longer Galaxia can keep Chaos contained. We must prevent our system from becoming a target of the next Sailor War. We are senshi and our primary duty is to protect the Silver Millennium. I am the leader of the Outer Senshi and it is my duty to make these types of decisions."

"Nao, there has to be another way to protect these worlds. For your plan to work, the Planet Crystals must be sealed away and senshi can never again be allowed to love and marry their soul mates. Your own daughters Kiruko and Ruria will be weaker than you and Yuuka and they will be separated from the women they love. Could you stand to be separated from Yuuka for the rest of your life?"

"They will not know what they are missing," Nao whispered, fresh tears on her cheeks. "I spoke to Uranus when we returned and she said that this choice is mine to make. We can keep our power and hope to become stronger than Galaxia before she loses control of Chaos, or we can become weak and hide in the darkness of this arm of the galaxy, safe from the forces that caused the destruction of the ninth world of Antares. She said this was my choice."

"Nao, please don't do this."

"Nao the Conqueror," the blonde whispered, leaning her arm against the wall. "I will not be remembered like that. I will be Nao the Breaker, Nao the Fearful, Nao the Coward. My name will be cursed through the centuries because I am afraid of Chaos. I, the Queen of Uranus, terrified. What will my people, my sister senshi, my _children_ think of me?"

Setsuna stood, silent in the dim room, as she considered Nao's words. Logically, the blonde had made the correct choice, the one that would certainly keep their people safe for hundreds, if not thousands, of years, but it was not an easy decision. _"The Moon will Rise over a great kingdom, shining in the sky for thousands of years, until the day that the Sun turns in its sleep. It will Call but no one will be able to answer. On that day, the Sun will cry as dark blood soaks the ground and loneliness grips the Dark One. The galaxy will be consumed by the Scream of Time and the Silver Moon will fall to the Earth in a harvest of desperate ruin when the lights of two star seeds combine. The capricious Tear will shatter its last and only the Golden Light of dreams can preserve the hopes of the future."_ Nao looked up as Setsuna finished reciting the ancient prophecy, something she had seen thousands of years ago but never understood before. "You're right, Nao; the power of two planets can never be allowed to combine. The Silver Millennium will fall if that is allowed to happen. I Saw that a long time ago, but I never gave it much thought before. I didn't understand it until today. Nao, I will live and die every few hundred years and barely be remembered except as the lonely queen that guards the Time Gate. I will take the blame for this choice, for ordering you to seal away your powers and forsake your soul mates for the safety of the solar system."

"Setsuna, this is my choice. You cannot take responsibility for it."

"You are a great War Queen, a hero to your people, and you must be remembered for that. A Uranian Queen cannot ever risk having her name associated with fear and she certainly cannot let her subjects assume cowardice. You have a right to be afraid after what we saw and what we did in Antares, but your choice is the only one that can protect the Silver Millennium. I will carry this burden for you." She tilted her head, wishing that Nao had been able to make the other choice. "My friend, I do not know how to seal the Planet Crystals, even though I had a part in creating them."

"I know how to do it," Nao whispered.

* * *

Nao stood on the white crystalline sand at the top of the Chime Cliffs between the field of cacti and the extensive cave system that had once housed her god. Yuuka stood silently beside her in the windless day, both of them silently listening to the bond between the senshi. Nao jerked in pain as she felt Reiko die, Ares's torment vibrating through the system. Minami followed moments later, those two having volunteered to die first as warriors, before the gods figured out what they were doing. A few moments later, Chieko and Mariya also died and their gods cried out in pain, the vibrations of four grieving gods threatening to shake the solar system apart.

Nao nodded in acceptance as Yuuka reached out to take her hand. "I cannot live without you, Yuuka. When Setsuna asked me if I could stand to be separated from you, the answer was obvious to me. She's too much of a god to understand true love and the bond of soul mates, but our sisters understand the sacrifice that we must make. The only way for us to seal the Planet Crystals is to die and let our gods' sorrow create keystones to keep our descendants weak. It is the only way."

"Yes, it is," Yuuka replied, twining her fingers with Nao's. "I am not afraid to die with you, my love."

"Is this the only way to seal your power?" Uranus appeared on the silent cliff beside her senshi, Artemis by her side. She had begun to date the huntress when she became tired of Nao's disapproval of her fling with Aphrodite, and now Artemis had come to Miranda to offer Uranus whatever emotional support she could.

"It is," Nao replied softly, turning slightly as Poseidon and Amphitrite appeared beside their sister gods. "I'm glad we'll have the chance to say goodbye to you before the end."

"Nao!" Setsuna appeared in a whirlwind of black smoke and white sand, two women by her side. "You didn't tell me that you had to _die_."

"How else could we reach our gods' darkest emotions? Setsuna, this is the only way."

Ruria and Kiruko rushed forward, embracing their mothers frantically. "Please don't go, Mother," Kiruko whispered. "How can we live without you?"

"I am old and tired, Kiru, and this war sapped all of my strength. I have been beaten and broken, and I can never be that great warrior queen of the Mars Riots or the woman who chased down the Kuiper Smugglers Association decades ago. I barely have the strength to be Sailor Uranus. It's your time now, yours and Ruria's. You will have to be strong because I can't anymore."

"You were the greatest queen we will ever have," Ruria whispered, staring into her mother's pale blue eyes. "And both of you were better mothers than I can hope to be."

"You will be great in your own way," Yuuka whispered, kissing each of her daughters before pushing them away. "Just remember all of the lessons that we taught you and never give in to fear. We love you, but we must go."

Setsuna stepped forward as Ruria and Kiruko stepped back, crimson eyes dark. "I did not know that you were planning this."

"Does it change anything? The crystals must still be sealed to protect us, even if this is the only way to affect that change. We're old warriors, Setsuna, and we are tired of fighting. Our daughters must take up the mantle of senshi now."

"And what am I supposed to do with all of my friends dead?"

"Live. Raise your two daughters and return to Olympus when this life is over. I imagine that with the Antares Uprising over, you have little reason to remain among the mortals. Spend a few generations with your family before returning to watch over ours again. Yuuka and I will be reborn, and we will see you again."

The Queen of Pluto nodded as she backed away, wiping tears from her cheeks. "I will wait for your rebirth, no matter how long it takes. And then, when your souls are strong enough, I will show you how to create Star Senshi. We will fight Chaos together and this time we will win without any doubt or sorrow to darken our victory."

"I don't doubt it," Nao replied, grinning as the wind began to blow. She wrapped her arms around Yuuka and leaned down for a final kiss, closing her emerald eyes. Her long braid wrapped around them like a rope, tying the soul mates together as the wind began to blow even faster, stirring up the white sand. The screaming sound of the rushing air changed to a mournful melody, the _Jakti Lumas_ cacti realizing that their goddess's senshi was planning to die. As the sand began to swirl faster and the music grew louder, Nao and Yuuka began to sing, sharing for one last moment the thing that had brought them together so many decades before.

" _Is it the blowing lilac wind that beckons us?_

_Or is it the violin among the misty waters?_

_Dreams, in this troubled, frivolous world_

_Bloom with a single cut from a flower's sword"_

Between one moment and the next, so fast that even the gods could not see it happen, the senshi vanished and the sand _changed_. Where once the sand at the top of the cliffs had been purest white, it was now colored in gold, navy blue, sapphire, and teal. The senshi were gone, though the strains of their mournful song still filled the air.

Uranus raised her head to the sky and screamed, as shattered by the loss of her beloved senshi, the woman who carried the incarnation of her daughter's soul, as she had been by the loss of her manhood countless thousands of years earlier. Artemis held her lover as a single golden tear fell to the ground and turned into a tiny stone, sealing the power of the Planet Crystal resting peacefully on the ground before them. Poseidon had not been able to say a word to his dying senshi, and his sobs were just as silent as a blue keystone joined the gold. His wife held him close, unable to console him.

Ruria and Kiruko, now queens of their respective worlds, clung to each other in desperate grief, unable to process the loss of their mothers so soon after the death of their brother. Setsuna, completely alone on that windy cliff, stepped forward and lifted the two Planet Crystals, holding the blue one out to Poseidon, the sea-god's wife taking it when her husband was unable to stop crying. Setsuna handed the gold one to Uranus, her dark hand shaking as tears began to run down her cheeks. She had not expected the loss of a mortal to hurt so badly. Now, at last, after so many incarnations, she was beginning to understand the pain of being human. How could she live without her friends and wait patiently for their rebirth? How could she have encouraged Nao to seal the power of the planets, signing the senshi's death warrants? Silently, she stared into the wind and cried.

* * *

_(Present)_

Haruka jumped up from the circle in the sand, disoriented, and ran toward the caves, collapsing just inside the cool darkness. She heard herself sobbing and she was unable to stop, tears dripping onto the black stone beneath her hands. She had never cried so hard before and she had no idea how to stop it, how to heal the stabbing pain in her heart. The other senshi recovered from the intense vision more slowly, all of them having lost motor function in the trance and unable to move and follow their friend, unable to console her.

"Do you understand her choice, my child?" A shimmer of golden power just inside the cave faded to reveal Uranus, wearing a dark navy gown that glittered gold in the brilliant light. She crouched before her senshi, emerald eyes sad. "That was her choice, her world, and her reason."

"She was afraid," Haruka whispered, unable to comprehend the despair she had shared with Nao in the vision, unable to understand the agony of losing a child to an opponent so much stronger than her. "The Star Senshi . . . the Wars . . . she sealed the stones in a desperate bargain to prevent the destruction of the Antares Uprising from being repeated here. She bet on our weakness to protect us."

"Her choice was right for her time," Uranus replied, looking up as Michiru joined them, the sea senshi wrapping her arms around her wife. Haruka leaned into the comfort of the embrace, finally able to calm the storm of emotions evoked by the vision, finally able to stop crying. "This is your time, your world, and your reason."

"Are you saying Galaxia would have lost control of Chaos if we stayed strong?"

"I _am_ saying that. She absolutely would have. She has grown stronger over the last three thousand years, but the corruption inside her has also grown. Now you are strong enough to fight the Star Senshi and you might even be strong enough to learn how to create them. The darkness that Se saw is not her, it is not another Sailor War just yet, but it is a servant of Chaos, and it is very strong. This darkness was born of Earth when Chaos was trapped there and it was exiled to the Sun by a golden light nine hundred years ago, but it has found a new mortal servant and it is growing strong again. If you leave the crystals sealed, Galaxia will never come here once Chaos inevitably takes full control of her, but you will also not be strong enough to fight the ancient darkness coming from the Sun. These are your facts and this is your choice."

"I choose to be powerful," Haruka replied, pushing herself to her feet. The other senshi gathered behind her, Michiru on one side and Serenity on the other, supporting the leader of the Outer Senshi. "I will unlock the stones. In the vision, I saw how they were sealed and I know how to empower them once more. We are the strongest senshi you have ever had, and I will not let the Silver Millennium fall."

Uranus nodded as she rose, smiling at her senshi as she held out her hand. A golden stone with navy striations appeared in her palm, the final Planet Crystal at last. She handed it to Haruka and stepped back, bowing her head. "You are ready. Bring light back into this solar system and be the senshi that ten thousand years of women have lived and died to create. Our ultimate avatars." She waved her hand and the senshi vanished from the cave, sent back to the castle on Oberon by Uranus's power. "Good luck, my beloved daughter."

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **AN:** As you can see, there are some things that have been remembered or related to the senshi from the Antares Uprising that aren't specifically accurate. For example, it was said more than once that Setsuna made the choice to seal the planet crystals, then later that she told Nao it had to be done but Nao made the choice (the truth being that she tried desperately to stop her friends from dying). As you can see, neither one of those is true, but history has a way of distorting the facts after three thousand years. Setsuna took the blame for Nao's choice because of how it would look to the Uranians and the other warrior races. Nao had to be remembered as a great hero, as the Conqueror, despite the fact that she had this very difficult decision to make as the leader of the Outer Senshi.
> 
> Hanami is the same Sailor Galaxia that's in Stars, and you can see that she does have a home star like all Star Senshi, but she has grown powerful over the years (to the point where she truly was the most powerful Star Senshi at the time of the Antares Uprising) and so took another name. The dark senshi were the same, taking new names after their allegiance switched, which explains why the senshi in Stars have odd names like Tin Nyanko and Aluminum Siren. This is where and why she took Chaos into herself, leading to the events of Sailor Stars.
> 
> Setsuna of three thousand years ago did not have much invested in her mortal lives, as pointed out multiple times by Nao. She could not understand love and soul mates, but she did not yet fear the destruction of the solar system to the point where she wanted to keep them apart. This is during the time that she still actively mourns Serenity but after the brief period where she was obsessed with bringing her back, so she is beginning to befriend her fellow senshi during her mortal lives. Here she became such close friends with Nao that she is willing to protect Nao's reputation and she feels lost when her friends finally die.
> 
> Uranian politics: the Queen is an inherited position (of course) and she has ten women to advise her and run the planet called War Queens. The positions are mostly inherited, but a certain number of titles in both arts and war are required for the seat. Additionally, the applicant must be Kazemaru and prove loyalty to the queen above all else. Beneath the War Queen Council is a group of Lesser War Queens that carry out the War Queens' orders and each command at least one small fleet of their own into battle. Very few of these seats are inherited, instead being used as awards for great feats of strength or beauty, and there are two seats reserved for the leader of the Arts and the leader of War among the lesser queens. Taichen Laira holds the position of Arts Leader (having earned it through her acting skills) though she does have a certain required number of war titles, as well. Takako has now been placed in the War Seat, Laira's partner as leader of the Lesser Queens.
> 
> The Lower Chiefs are mostly just strong regional warriors that each command one or two ships and have enough fighting experience to warrant recognition but not enough to fight for a seat among the War Queens. The Duchess Council is comprised of the women who rule the various districts and regions of the Uranian Moons, and these seats are purely inherited. These are the nobles, born to lead, and Ono Hikari technically controls one of these seats. If she had not earned enough war titles to win her seat years earlier, she would just be a Duchess, with very little say in the Arts or War, and one of her children will eventually inherit a seat, as well. This would be like a lord who has a great deal of land being allowed a seat in parliament. They control matters of economics and internal policies but have nothing to do with inter-planetary politics. Most of the other worlds of the Silver Millennium follow more basic laws of nobility and inheritance, with Dukes and Lords and such controlling the people and filling the government. Jupiter is controlled by a council of tribal chiefs, most of which inherited their position and are somewhat loosely related to the reigning queen. Mercury is a constitutional parliamentary monarchy, so the upper house is filled with titled lords and the lower house with elected commoners. As for the names of the planetary lineages (of the Wilds of Ganymede, etc.) the Line of Saturn is very reclusive and tends not to breed much with other planets, so their royal line has a simple delineation to indicate this seclusion. Mercury is a planet of pacifists and scientists, so there is no proud warrior name for their lineage, just line of Hermes.


	29. Flowers and Rituals

**Chapter 29: Flowers and Rituals**

* * *

_March 1, 8983 – March 3, 8983_

* * *

"NAO!"

Serenity shot awake at the cry, staring in shock as her lover fell out of bed and landed on the floor, hard, still too wrapped up in her dream to notice. The queen slipped to the floor and wrapped her arms around Setsuna's shaking form, whispering soothingly into her ear as the dark queen's shivering subsided. "Se? Are you alright?"

The Plutonian's garnet eyes slowly cleared and she nodded, resting her forehead on Serenity's shoulder. "Forgive me, my love. I was remembering Nao's death."

"You two were close?"

Setsuna nodded as she stood, pulling Serenity to her feet, as well. Realizing that they both had little chance of returning to sleep, the two women slipped into silk robes and headed for the main room of Serenity's suite. One of the servants had left a pot of tea on the warmer against the wall, and Setsuna poured each of them a cup before sitting beside her lover on the couch. "We were," she answered at last. "She was the best friend I ever had until this incarnation. Before she, Yuuka, and the rest of their partners were born, I never saw a reason to make friends with my fellow senshi. I only allowed myself to be born when I sensed that a great crisis was coming, so I simply performed my duty, gave birth to a child or two, and let myself die. But Nao would not let me just _exist_ in my solitary fortress. When the Martian moons both began to revolt, Nao came to Pluto and forced me to join her team to quell the riots, forced me to swear fealty to her as the leader of the Outer Senshi."

"Forced you?" Serenity smiled over her cup of tea, lavender eyes sparkling in the rising steam. "I can't imagine you on your knees at Sailor Uranus's feet."

"Yet it happened. I was furious at first, being forced to obey a mortal, but the laws I set forth nine thousand years ago did make her the leader of the Outer Senshi and, in turn, the leader of all the senshi. She led us in the Mars Riots and she was magnificent. I began to respect her after we subdued Deimos, then I became her friend in the final battles for Phobos. She was attacked by hundreds of protestors as the rest of the moon fell, and one of them sliced her across the face, but Nao did not retaliate. Instead, she subdued the woman and asked for her loyalty and the obedience of her people. She showed mercy to a woman who permanently scarred her, and I was amazed that a mortal could be so kind. I began to spend time with my fellow senshi and I grew to love them over the decades that followed."

"And then?"

"They died, Ser, all of them. After the Antares Uprising, they took their own lives in order to seal the Planet Crystals and protect this solar system. They died because I told them that they had to."

Serenity stared at her partner in silence for a moment, carefully placing her cup on the table before them before speaking. "Se, I've known you for too long to believe that. You didn't order them to die." Setsuna's garnet eyes rose to meet Serenity's gentle lavender, and the silver-haired queen nodded. "I was right. I can see it in your eyes. You took the blame for someone else's choice and it hurt you."

"She was my first friend," Setsuna whispered. "Because of her I began to interact with the other senshi more and more. I met you because she taught me to be human. I cried at her death, the first time I have ever cried for the loss of a mortal. When my own daughter Chiyoko died, I never really shed a tear, but I loved Nao like the sister I never had. She has been reincarnated, Ser, as our errant Princess Haruka, but I see no recognition in her eyes and that hurts me. I want her to remember me, remember the great times we had, but I never want her to remember the terrible end of the Antares Uprising or the choice she had to make."

"Nao made it? She chose to seal the crystals? Se, why?"

Setsuna turned away, running her fingers through her sleep-mussed hair. "I don't know if I can tell you. I'm not sure you would understand without knowing what happened back then. But the choice she made at the end was a terrible one and I could not let her people misunderstand that. She was a great queen and the finest hero of the Antares Uprising, and they called her Nao the Conqueror. Haruka will be just as great, just as magnificent a queen, but I regret that she can never be as strong as my lost friend."

Serenity grew silent for a moment, staring into her tea. "Were you there when she died? The circumstances surrounding the deaths of Nao, Yuuka, and the other queens of their time have always been so mysterious, but it is said that they died of a broken heart after the Antares Uprising. The historical records show that Nao lost a son there."

"On Uranus, Mars, and Jupiter it is said that they all sustained terrible wounds and they went away to die as warriors. Mercury claims that the Planet Crystals were not meant to be used so intensely for so many years and their power was simply drained away, causing both the death of the carriers and the loss of the crystals themselves. Venus originated the broken heart theory, which the Moon gladly accepted, and the people of Saturn claim that the gods came to take their children to Olympus after their heroics in the war."

"That's an odd reaction to the loss of the six queens."

Setsuna chuckled, running her fingers through her hair in a very human contemplative gesture she had picked up over the centuries. "There is no patron god of Saturn, and that makes them worship us all the more. They have always been a strange and secretive people, though they are warriors of darkness almost comparable to the finest _Kazemaru_ Uranians. On Neptune and Pluto, on the worlds that stand guard against threats from outside of our solar system, the people claimed that the blood stain of so many pointless deaths in the struggle against the Star Senshi weighed heavily on their souls and they let themselves die to atone for so many lost lives. That's probably the closest to the truth that any mortal will understand."

"Star Senshi? I have heard legends of them, but there has not been a sighting of one in thousands of years. If my history is correct, most of the last of them were lost in the Antares Uprising."

"Correct. Nao killed the last of the dark Star Senshi in the final battle, and the handful that we managed to capture alive had their star crystals removed by Sailor Galaxia and her surviving Council. They all took their own lives after that, unable to live without the power that had defined them their entire lives."

Serenity tilted her head in curiosity, lavender eyes narrowed. "Sailor Galaxia? I have heard that name, but I thought it was impossible. It is said that she was the Star Senshi of Alderamin and that her twin sister was the last Sailor Sol. It is also said that her mother was Queen Serenity, but none of that can be true."

Setsuna grinned and shook her head in disbelief. "And how did you hear about that? I know that the records of the Shadow Wars have been well-sealed and nothing of Galaxia should have survived."

"You and I will have a conversation about the security of your computer systems one day, my love, but I doubt that what I read was inaccurate. How, then, could all of that be possible? I know that the ginzuishou prevents any descendant of Serenity from giving birth to more than one child, her daughter and heir. How could Galaxia and another Star Senshi have been the children of Serenity and my line have survived?"

"It's hard to explain, but I suppose that I owe you something." Setsuna twisted her wrist and her Planet Crystal appeared in her palm, the dark red and black stone glowing softly in the dim light. "These Planet Crystals are intimately bound to the ginzuishou. Even when they slumber, as six of the Planet Crystals have been doing for thousands of years, they still power your crystal. When they are strong, your crystal is equally strong, but their weakness makes you weak. In the past, there was no restriction on how many children the daughters of Serenity could birth, and there were times that the queen had a dozen children filling this palace. Hanami, whom you know as Sailor Galaxia, and her twin sister Kiria, the last Sailor Sol this system has known, had two older sisters, one the heir Serenity, before their father died. The Queen Serenity who ruled during the Antares Uprising had two daughters after the heir, Serenity, was born. But that Serenity and all of her descendants have only had one daughter each."

"Is the ginzuishou too weak to produce multiple children now?"

"Something very much like that. It's the closest explanation that I can give you. It's also the reason . . . it's also the reason that the ginzuishou shatters its carriers."

Serenity shot up from her couch, tears in her eyes as she remembered her own mother's death at the hands of the ginzuishou. "The loss of the Planet Crystals is what caused my ancestors to be shattered? Se . . . the effects of the shattering have been getting more and more brutal over the centuries. Does that mean that the planetary senshi are getting even weaker? Does that mean that soon the ginzuishou won't have enough power to create even one child per generation?"

"No, just the opposite," Setsuna argued, moving to embrace the smaller woman. "The symptoms of the instability inside the ginzuishou are becoming worse because the senshi are growing stronger. Soon, they will be strong enough to support the ginzuishou as they did in the past even without the assistance of the fully powered Planet Crystals."

"How can you know that for certain, Se?" Serenity rested her head on Setsuna's shoulder, struggling to the control her tears.

"Because your lineage has begun to have multiple pregnancies again after three thousand years," Setsuna replied, running her fingers gently through Serenity's hair in an effort to calm the queen. "Your mother had a pregnancy before you, but was unable to carry it to term. It was not, as people suspected, evidence of your lineage's decline, but rather of its growing power. You only have one child, but that is by design more than anything else. Your daughter might be capable of giving birth more than once. The senshi are growing very strong, my love. You will never be shattered by the ginzuishou."

"How can you know that for sure? You've said it before, and you are always so certain, but my fear keeps me from believing you."

"I can't tell you how I know since I barely understand it myself, but I can promise that you, my beloved, will never be shattered by the ginzuishou. It was true the day your mother died and it is still true now."

"Oh, Se, I hope so."

Setsuna pushed Serenity away and gazed into the pale eyes she loved so much. "Now you can tell me how you gained access to highly encrypted and protected files on the birth of Sailor Alderamin and Sailor Sol."

* * *

Haruka had not moved from the covered balcony for hours. She sat on a bench carved from the bones of an immense predator from the deep deserts of Umbriel, sometimes running her long fingers across the smooth pearlescent white surface, but her gaze never wavered from the city spread beneath her palace. The other senshi had sat with her at first on some of the other benches clustered on her balcony, but one-by-one they filtered back into the spacious meeting room and left her alone. Michiru, however, stayed seated beside her wife, hoping that her presence could help the Uranian sort out her conflicted emotions. As the sun began to set over the arid world, it seemed that her efforts were finally noticed.

"You should go eat."

"I won't leave you."

Haruka finally looked away from the city, smiling at the Neptunian. "I know. Thank you. I needed some time to sort out what I saw."

"I only experienced a fraction of Nao's emotions but I did feel what Yuuka sensed from their link. She mourned the loss of their son, but obviously not to the extent that Nao did. Her choice . . . was it driven exclusively by the death of Tsukihiko?"

Haruka shook her head, running her fingers through her feathery blonde hair. She pulled at the strands above her neck, chuckling as she realized what she was searching for. "My braid is missing, Michi. It did make me feel powerful, but I don't think I would want one again. Anyway, the choice wasn't about Tsukihiko. She loved her son, but it was the loss of her fellow Star Senshi that brought the truth to her. She and her fellow Planet Senshi were not strong enough to defeat the threat in Antares and she worried that the wars could come here and destroy everything she loved. The Antares system lost an entire planet during the Sailor Wars, and Nao feared the loss of one of our worlds if the Silver Millennium was ever the target of rogue Star Senshi."

Michiru took Haruka's hand in hers, teal eyes worried in the dimming light. "And at the end, Haruka? What did she feel at the end?"

"Betrayal," Haruka whispered, closing her emerald eyes. "She projected that feeling into her daughters as she sang, and her soul screamed with the despair of her pain in her final moments. She was betrayed, not by her people or her fellow senshi, but by her own crippling weakness. Nao, the Queen of Uranus, realized that she was too weak to fight the wars of the senshi, and she could not live with the betrayal of her own soul. She could not save her friends, her wife, or even her son from that weakness." Haruka stood from the bench, storming across the balcony as she glared out across the city and the people moving between the buildings with no knowledge of her internal turmoil and the pain she had seen in her past life. "But I am not her! I may now carry a small portion of her memories, and my soul shared her life, but I am _not_ Nao! I am not afraid and I will not betray myself or my sister senshi to the coming darkness. We will reform the crystals because we deserve to have the full power of our ancestors. We will be strong enough to defeat the evil threatening the Silver Millennium."

"And do you know how?"

Haruka nodded, sensing the other princesses return to the balcony and gather behind her. "Yes. I've known how since I saw them sealed, but I needed to connect with Nao's soul to understand the mechanism she used to project directly to Uranus when she wanted to punish her goddess. There was a moment of it in the flashbacks we saw."

"Why do you need to know that?"

Haruka turned to Makoto, smiling at her question, her answer echoing something Minako had said when they were discussing the planet crystals on Larissa. "Because the gods sealed the Planet Crystals, and only the gods can unseal them. And now I know how to force them to do just that."

-hr-

It was a quiet day in the underworld. To be truthful, it was always a quiet day in the lowest of the three divine realms, but with all of his servants and attendants elsewhere, Hades felt that his home was quieter than usual. Persephone was visiting her mother on Olympus proper and Cerberus had a stomachache so she had taken him with her to see if Demeter could cure the giant three-headed dog. Charon had been busier than usual ferrying his souls, mostly from Earth, and they were colored with a strange dark taint that Hades had been struggling to identify. Staring out across the vast expanse of caves and underground rivers than defined his realm, Hades realized how much he missed his beloved daughter.

"Thinking of me again, Father?"

The God of Death had a reputation for being dark and gloomy, but that perception could not be further from the truth. Hades stood from his throne as Setsuna appeared before him, wearing one of the brightest gowns he had ever seen on his dark child, a velvet dress patterned in forest green and vibrant blue. "Se," he whispered, wrapping his strong arms around the slender godling. "How did you get here? You've told me time and again that you can't travel to Olympus as a mortal, and I know that you have not died recently to become a god again and return to us."

Setsuna nodded as she backed away, running her fingers through her dark green hair. "I had Aphrodite bring me. She and Ares are keeping Charon company for the moment because I needed to ask you a few questions. There's some darkness on the souls that he is brining here that could be related to the time knot I showed all of you days ago."

"Is that all you came for?"

Setsuna chuckled as she led her father away from his throne that overlooked the entire Underworld and headed deeper into his castle toward his records room. "No, Father, I have missed you greatly. The more time I spend among the humans, the more I miss my family, but when I am here I cannot stop worrying about the mortals."

"That is the curse of godhood, my child, one that your uncles and I recognized long ago. We love the mortals and despair when they die. I, more than anyone, feel that pain. It must be worse for you, living among them."

"It is," Setsuna whispered, stopping just inside the record room. "That's why I need your help, Father. I had a dream last night about Nao."

"Nao? Wasn't that the name of the last woman to carry Uranus's daughter's soul?"

Setsuna nodded as Hades moved to one of the panels, pulling up information on the souls that had passed through the Underworld in the past ten thousand years. "She was my first true human friend."

Hades glanced up at the pain in his daughter's voice, red eyes clouded. "I remember how you cried at her death. We mourned with you and with the planetary gods who lost their beloved senshi."

"Has she been reborn since?"

Hades scanned through his records, symbols that only the gods could read scrolling across his screen. "It seems that this is her first reincarnation since she was Nao."

"Why? Souls usually cycle faster than that."

Hades tapped something into his computer, watching as more names appeared next to the one that represented the soul that Nao and Haruka carried. "This entire generation of senshi has waited thirty centuries to be reborn. I had nothing to do with it; the souls were simply not ready until now."

"Is that usual?"

"No. Hmm, it seems that the interval between rebirth for this entire group of souls has been incredibly erratic, but seemingly linked to severe galactic events, and they are always reborn together. The souls themselves are growing more powerful over time, clearly trying to reach some final evolution." Hades tapped a few more commands into his console, tilting his head at the results. "Yes, I thought so. This is unusual behavior for mortal souls. They are exhibiting an awareness that I haven't seen in ten thousand years, though Uranus did tell me that this evolution was possible. She must have done something to her daughter's soul to encourage this growth toward a greater goal."

Setsuna stared at the screen, crimson eyes narrowed. "Haruka said that she is Uranus's ultimate senshi, but I haven't been able to find the goddess to ask her what that means. I don't know if that means her soul is the soul of the ultimate senshi or that Haruka herself is going to be the most powerful senshi of Uranus."

Hades turned to his daughter and tilted his head, trying to decide how to explain such an important concept to his daughter. "There are two types of avatars, my child, as you well know. The first type includes all of the normal senshi who are physical descendants of the patron gods of each world. The other type includes you and the prophesized most powerful of senshi, souls that are born into mortal bodies with full knowledge of their entire existence. I believe that you explained the second type of avatar as a god born into a mortal body with full knowledge of her true self."

Setsuna summoned her Time Key and released the Garnet Orb from its setting, holding it gently between her hands. "How can any mortal become a True Avatar? They would have to be gods."

"No, they would have to gain the knowledge of true rebirth. The ultimate senshi will know their previous lives, they will be able to see the incarnations of their souls, and through that knowledge they will reach their full potential."

"Father, I don't understand." Very few gods had any knowledge of souls and rebirth, though Setsuna knew more than most of her family. Hades, however, as the god of death and rebirth, had an innate knowledge of the power and movement of souls that was almost incomprehensible to the other gods and certainly beyond the ability of any mortal to understand.

"It's a secret known only to a handful of gods, including myself and Uranus. The mortal queens think that they are breeding the ultimate senshi through many generations of daughters, but they don't realize that the normal senshi are not growing stronger fast enough to achieve the goal of creating the ultimate senshi. At the normal rate of mortal evolution, it could take fifty thousand more years to reach the ultimate senshi.

"When you encouraged her to rejoin the gods, Uranus quickly realized that the mortals could never breed the ultimate senshi, so she found a better way. She decided to give birth to a daughter, a powerful demi-god soul born into a fully mortal body who would live and die as a mortal through multiple incarnations until the day that the soul 'awoke' as a godling and gained full access to the powers of her mother. The other gods followed suit, of course, recognizing her wisdom in such matters, but they never understood the true reasons behind her choice. The evolution of that group of empowered souls is the only true indicator of the power of the senshi lines, and they are only reborn when they are truly needed and can achieve the greatest growth. According to my soul records, they have each lived only a half-dozen lives, yet they are nearing the peak of their evolution. Haruka carries the soul of Uranus's daughter, just as the princess of Neptune carries the soul of Poseidon's daughter, and so on. I'm sure the other gods have not realized it yet, but they will recognize their children soon enough."

"Does that mean that they will defeat this darkness? Does that mean that they won't die again?" There was a desperation in Setsuna's voice that Hades had not expected, an attachment to the mortal senshi that was uncommon among the gods.

"It means that if they die, they will be reborn as the same people and they will possess the full memories of this life. If that happens, they could conceivably be strong enough to eventually unlock the power of their heritage."

"How can they be reborn as the same people? Passage through the underworld and time spent in the Elysian Fields erases memories and prepares the soul for a new life."

"Sometimes souls do not pass through Elysian. Sometimes they move forward to their new lives without my interference. If these souls are to become the ultimate senshi, they must first be reborn without passing through the underworld." Hades had ruled death for as long as the gods controlled the Earth and its sister planets, and his greatest annoyance was that some things were beyond his reach, out of the realm of his powers. Setsuna knew that, and she could tell that her father did not actually approve of these senshi souls that might one day escape his grasp.

"You do not approve of these super-powered senshi souls." Hades had always had a very close relationship with his daughter, to the point where the godling could almost read her father's mind.

"You know that I don't. There should be nothing in the underworld that is out of my control, yet these souls ignore the rules that have held sway here for millennia. Uranus told me to ignore them, to let them evolve at their own pace, and she told me not to worry when they manage to facilitate their own rebirth."

"How can they do that?"

Hades chuckled, leading his daughter out of the records room. "I have asked Uranus that many times, but she just said that it will happen in its own time and its own way. I feel like she is trying to create these super-powered souls for some other reason than having the strongest senshi of all time, but I have never been able to determine her true motives. I also do not know what will force these souls to evolve, and I have to admit that I have no idea how something like that could even occur. If it is meant to happen, I suppose that Balance will arrange it."

"That's what I'm most worried about," Setsuna murmured, staring into her orb as Ares and Aphrodite joined the two dark gods inside the palace. "If Balance is to be a part of the evolution of the senshi, there is as much chance that she will force the change through Chaos as through Order. And the Chaos part frightens me."

* * *

Shousha stalked through the huge gathering hall with her hands linked firmly behind her back, dark green dress whispering across the fine sapphire blue, aqua, and silver-white marble as she moved. The hundreds of servants swarming through the hall and across the ceiling were all outfitted with anti-gravity harnesses to allow for the most efficient and silent movement possible, so her heels were the only sound echoing against the floor. She had always believed that servants should be as invisible and silent as possible to avoid disturbing her or her daughter. Shousha passed clusters of servants cleaning and polishing windows, shining floors and walls, and hanging decorations, nodding her head as she decided that their efforts were adequate. The castle on Triton was considered one of the most opulent in the system, and Shousha had decided to take the beauty of her palace to its highest levels yet for the visiting royals. She would impress them in a way that they could never expect.

"Majesty, the Head Chef has submitted five different course options for the party."

Shousha glanced up at the two servants floating before her, one holding a data pad and the other carrying an armful of brightly colored cloth. "Tell me."

"Option one includes dishes composed of only plant materials, suitable for members of the Mercurian delegation. Option two includes fruits, vegetables, and fish that would be suitable for Venusians and Neptunians. The fish chosen include the rainbow sailfish from Venus, the red-bellied snapper fish from Nereid, and the cave glowfish from Titan. Option three includes fruit, nuts, vegetables, fish, and avian meat suitable for Plutonians and Lunarians, and he has suggested a honey berry desert that is popular on the Moon right now. Option four includes fruit, vegetables, fish, and meat from the _yisrit_ deer of Io and the _mizrash_ bovine of Umbriel, a course that has been declared suitable for Jovians and Saturnians. The fifth option includes desert plants and cactus fruits from Uranus and Mars and the meat from a variety of reptiles native to both worlds. The desert in the fifth course include exotic cheeses made from the milk of Uranian and Neptunian bovines and a sweet desert made from cactus flowers that are native to Mars. This meal option is only suitable for Martians and Uranians, of course, since some of the plants offered here are poisonous to inhabitants of the other worlds."

Shousha smoothed her dress as she considered the options offered to her. "Mercurians are strict vegetarians, so the first option must be available for them. Venusians and our own people will not touch any meat except fish, while Plutonians and Lunarians will not eat any animal that lives on the land, only birds and fish. The people of Jupiter and Saturn have an odd connection with the birds of their worlds and will only eat fish and the meat from land animals, while Martians and Uranians only eat reptiles and plants that are often deadly to other races. They consider any other meat to be unfit for warriors." She took the data pad from her hovering servant and considered the extensive list, sighing in resignation. "We have never hosted such a varied delegation. Tell the chef that a huge buffet table will be arranged below the main windows facing Neptune, and all of these foods will be available for the guests to choose from, and they must be well-labeled to avoid any issues. Remember to keep the various meats separated so that no one's beliefs are compromised and have the fruits, vegetables, and deserts arranged in the most pleasing method possible. Assign my seven finest design specialists to his team."

"Yes, Your Majesty. Also, the seamstress has sent a sample of cloth and asked if you would choose something suitable for yourself and the princess to wear." The second servant moved forward, her feet hanging just above the marble floor as she presented the pile of colorful cloth samples to the queen.

Shousha rifled through the materials, selecting a few of her favorite colors for her own dress and multiple complementary colors for Michiru's dress. "Have the seamstress tailor a suit for Rukaze that will match Michiru's dress and, of course, I expect a liberal application of precious stones and jewelry for all of us. If I recall, my daughter had a few suits made for her new husband while he was visiting here, so I would guess that her personal seamstress still has his measurements. Also, send my personal guard to the royal treasury to retrieve my ceremonial crown and the most ornate princess crown that Michiru has used in social situations thus far. Find something suitable for our new prince to wear, as well."

The two servants bowed, somehow managing that feat while floating in mid-air, and flew away to carry out her orders. Shousha continued her tour around the room, nodding as she observed the preparations, glad that her daughter would be home in a few days.

* * *

"Is this really necessary?"

Laira shrugged, green eyes revealing very little emotion as she helped the princess into a sleeveless floor-length golden dress and adjusted the chains of emeralds around Haruka's waist. "It is required. You have been summoned by the War Queen Council and they expect your report on your recent mission to Miranda."

Haruka growled something rude in Low Umbrian as she tried to pull the dress higher to cover her cleavage, more irritated that she was being required to wear a dress than in the summons itself. The garment actually fit quite well, hugging her small breasts without constricting them as she would have preferred, the chains of gemstones enhancing her slender waist while the length of the dress emphasized her considerable height. Makoto was similarly irritated with Miki as the new War Queen helped her into a simple short dress, the dark green material showing off the warrior's sun-tanned legs while the short sleeves left her arms free and unencumbered. Rei had chosen an off-the-shoulder dark purple gown with voluminous skirts that she had never considered wearing before, but she enjoyed the way it swirled around her legs as she moved. Minako had chosen a short dress colored in pale pink and shimmering gold, perfectly happy to dress up for a meeting with the War Queens and put on extravagant amounts of fine jewelry. Ami had chosen a much simpler dress than the other princesses wore, a moderately plain material in sky blue with only a bracelet and her keystone necklace as adornment.

"Haruka, if you keep pulling at the dress, it will never sit right."

"Serenity, I would much prefer to wear a suit for something so formal."

The young princess, having chosen a flowing gown of silver and pink, chuckled at the discomfort in Haruka's words and stance. "Perhaps the War Queens wish to keep you off-balance. Once in a while, I'm sure they would like to have the upper hand."

"It's simpler than that," Miki replied. "The custom is for women of rank to always appear before the Council displaying their _saliis_ because, for the most part, we spend more effort developing our _sajink_."

"It is nice to know that your world has _some_ rules," Michiru teased from the doorway linking the main room and the sleeping chambers, a light aqua dress swirling around her slender form. The dress emphasized her breasts and slender waist, fine jewels woven into her hair and wrapped around her neck, arms, and waist. "If you refuse to wear the dress, my love, I'm afraid you won't be allowed to attend the meeting on my arm."

Haruka crossed her arms over her chest, ignoring the effect that such a move had on her breasts. "You would blackmail me?"

Michiru stepped closer and wrapped her arms around Haruka's waist, teal eyes shining in the light provided by the sun beaming down outside. Miki and Laira had procured golden chains studded with tiny colored stones for each princess to wear in their hair in place of a tiara, the gemstones matching their senshi colors and marking them as royalty. Haruka found it extravagant and pointless, but she wore it anyway. "I don't have to. You'll do what I want without coercion."

Haruka snorted, but Michiru could sense her wife's acceptance. "Fine, let's get this over with. Miki and Laira, lead the way."

* * *

Brilliant light filled the Council Chamber, both from the bright sunlight filtered through colorful silks covering the windows and from the artificial lights hanging from the high ceiling overhead. Nine of the ten War Queens sat patiently on their high dais, dozens of Lesser War Queens filling the lower table as noble women, their ranked husbands, and even a few highly ranked children filled the floor. Ado, her straight hair hanging down her back in a very relaxed style, watched the barely-controlled chaos below her with contemplative gold-flecked eyes, her fellow War Queens as silent as their leader. Hikari hummed something to herself as she read through a number of reports, nudging Yuri and showing her one of the pads. The Fifth War Queen chuckled and tapped a command into her own console, sending a message to her private estate.

Since the ceremony couldn't actually begin until the princesses arrived, Sanae gave into her curiosity and leaned forward, staring down the table at her friend. "What are you reading, Hikari, that has you so amused?"

"I was just reading the invitation to Princess Michiru's birthday again. Since Haruka is masquerading as one of my sons, I and my entire family have been invited to attend, though I think only a few of my children are even available. However, considering the word for _family_ in High Mirandan is _jolisiiar_ , which refers not only to physical relations but to those who share a war honor-bond, I informed the palace on Triton that I will be bringing all of my fellow War Queens and a select number of their children as well as three or four Lesser War Queens to whom I owe debts of honor. Queen Shousha's response was quite shocked, to say the least."

"But she has allowed it?"

"She had no choice," Yuri chuckled, her light voice amused. "Hikari knew that, out of sheer diplomatic courtesy, her request could never be denied. Since the princess has ordered all of us to be in attendance, Hikari's message solved the problem of us not technically being invited."

"I can't wait to see the look on Shousha's face when ten of our _Klihjhau_ -class war ships appear in orbit over her pretty little planet," Keiko mused, unnerving golden eyes staring into space as she contemplated the spectacular sight. "Odd that, of all the nobles and royals Shousha invited, Haruka herself was specifically left out."

"Even more odd," Hikari added, "is that Shousha never deduced my lack of a son named Rukaze. How hard could it have been to discover her ruse?"

"Hikari, any commoner can name every daughter of every War Queen, and they know our lineages by the time they leave primary school. However, I would say that no one outside of the War Queen Council itself could ever name all of our sons, especially your excessive brood, my dear Hikari."

"Shousha may be duped," Hiroko murmured from the end of the table, "but the queen of my grandmother's world is no fool. Setsuna will see through the ruse quickly."

"Perhaps not quickly enough," Hikari replied. "I am told that she has been preoccupied with our imminent destruction as of late."

A commotion at the entrance to the chamber caught the War Queens' attention, ending their conversation and effectively silencing the rest of the room. Koshu, his dark blonde hair tied at the base of his neck in a style currently popular among men of rank, stepped into the room, green hazel eyes rising to meet Ado's gold-flecked green ones. "As the Consort of the late Queen Kazeko and father of Princess Haruka, I believe that I have the right to be present at all High Ceremonies?"

Ado smiled, the first non-confrontational display she had ever shared with the man. "As Kazeko's Consort, you do have that right. I believe this is the first time you have entered the Council Chamber by choice, Koshu."

Koshu grinned, his smile a bit lopsided and somehow a little endearing. Ado realized with a start that the man who had fought her for twenty years had the ability to be kind, gentle, and charming, something that must have attracted Kazeko decades earlier. The First War Queen found it strange that she could only see his appeal now, after he had been deposed, but perhaps the demands of government had weighed heavily on his broad shoulders. He was, after all, only a man.

The doors opened again to admit Sixth War Queen Ono Miki, who had still not chosen her new family name, dressed in fine cerulean blue silk gown covered in a scattering of embroidered silver leaves and sparkling aquamarines. Her shoulder-length hair was held back by a delicate net of silver and diamonds, the finery suitable for the formal occasion. "Welcome to the Council," Ado called, watching as the newly-promoted War Queen took her rightful place at the highest table.

"I still can't believe that this is my seat," Miki murmured, running her sun-tanned fingers over the smooth pinkish wood of the council table. After her years on Neptune, the finery of the Uranian court was almost primitive, but she preferred the simple wealth of her home world to the extravagance of foreign ones. "The princesses are finally ready."

"It took you long enough to get them looking presentable," Hikari chided, smiling at her youngest daughter. "Were you having trouble getting Haruka into a dress?"

"No, but we did have trouble finding one that would fit. I had to borrow one of yours."

The Fourth War Queen shrugged as the main doors opened again. "Yes, that was what I had to do, as well. Haruka refuses to keep a collection of her own dresses at hand, but I have instructed some of the royal seamstresses to see to a wardrobe for her."

The War Queens straightened as Lesser War Queen Taichen Laira entered the chamber, all voices silencing at her arrival. She bowed to the council, hands folded before her dark red dress with the palms facing outward in a sign of deference and respect. "Allow me to introduce Her Highness Princess Haruka of Uranus and her companion princesses from Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Neptune. I am also pleased to announce that Her Supreme Royal Highness Princess Serenity of the Silver Millennium is also here with us today." Laira took her seat at the head of the Lesser War Queen table beside Takako, turning to watch the princesses enter the cavernous chamber.

Haruka entered first, the princess clearly both uncomfortable in the dress and irritated that she had been summoned before the full council. The golden dress sparkled in the light of the chamber, a color that Hikari wore often enough, emeralds accenting her waist and neck, a golden chain tiara restraining her unruly hair. The gathered Uranians bowed as she entered, offering homage to their beloved princess, and that seemed to ease her irritation somewhat. Haruka's eyes met her father's for a moment, but she declined to offer any other sign that she noticed his presence. It would be a while before father and daughter could see eye-to-eye once more. One step behind her, Michiru entered the chamber as a princess should, smiling and emanating an aura of nobility and peaceful calm. She was as comfortable in the layered aqua dress as in her senshi uniform, and as the princess of a world concerned with artful beauty she was practiced in the art of making an entrance.

Rei and Minako followed their fellow senshi into the room, Rei's rich purple dress just a few shades lighter than her vibrant eyes. She had woven chains of gold into her wild red hair in addition to the borrowed tiara, her keystone the only other jewelry she allowed herself, knowing that the Venusian on her arm would shine brightly enough for the both of them. Minako's gold and pink dress was far shorter than she would normally wear, but the silk was covered in filigree patterns decorated by multi-colored topazes and was clearly far more elegant a dress than she had worn since leaving Venus. Her pale pink heels were designed to match the shoes from her senshi uniform, a fine swirl of pale pink diamonds decorating the sides to make them look even more elegant. Unlike her partner, Minako had chosen a plethora of jewelry with which to enhance her beautiful dress, including a golden band hugging her upper right arm, delicate golden jeweled chains on each wrist and one ankle, and a pink choker with the symbol of her planet sitting proudly in the hollow of her throat. She had pulled the top portion of her hair back in her favorite style, a jeweled pink bow holding the silky mass while tiny golden gems sparkled in the restrained strands. She had dressed the part of the High Princess of Venus, and Rei wondered how she would be able to top the look for Michiru's birthday party.

Makoto and Ami wore much simpler attire, a clear contrast to the vibrant extravagance of their Martian and Venusian counterparts. Though Mars and Jupiter were both planets of war, the Jovians had little need for extravagant ceremonies and colorful dresses, the people of the forest quite content with a simpler look. Mercurians, though they were as peaceful and contemplative as the Venusians and Neptunians, did not have the same love of art and beauty as their sister planets, so Ami's dress was far simpler than her friends'. Makoto's dark green dress was short but still loose and feminine, the warrior wearing only her keystone around her neck and the simple golden chain tiara in her loose green hair. Ami's short sky-blue dress, though elegant compared to her usual attire, was still the simplest dress among the senshi, the minimalist style very popular among her people.

The six senshi split into two groups as Ami and Makoto entered, three senshi on one side of the door and three on the other. The princesses bowed their heads as Serenity entered, the teen wearing soft pink and bright silver, the colors a far cry from the white and gold she normally wore in the Lunarian Royal Court. Her pale blonde hair almost reached the floor, restrained by an intricate web of braids in a pattern known on Uranus as Miranda's Lace, pink pearls marking every intersection. She wore strings of pink and silvery white pearls around her neck, waist, and wrists, a small tiara from the Uranian Royal Treasury on her head. Serenity smiled as all of the gathered Uranians bowed, gesturing for them to rise as she followed her senshi to stand before the War Queens' Table.

The ten War Queens stood as the princesses reached the table, Ado gesturing toward a servant standing near the door. The First War Queen glanced toward the Fourth and indicated that she should take the servant's bundle and begin the ceremony. Hikari took the small leather pack from the servant and placed it on the pale pink table before her, golden eyes rising to meet Haruka's curious green ones. "I'm sure you have all been wondering why you were summoned before the Council."

Haruka shrugged, an irreverent half-smirk on her face. "The thought had crossed my mind, cousin. Please, do tell me why you called us here. Miki, Laira, and Takako were scheduled to fight with my sister senshi all day today."

"Those fights will proceed as you intended," Hikari assured her princess. "A few of my other children will join Miki and Takako, as a matter of fact. However, I believe that you journeyed to Miranda yesterday and did not give a report to the War Queen Council."

"I had a lot to think about after all we saw."

"Well, we would love to hear your report now."

Haruka turned to Michiru, eyes a cloudy pale blue. _They want to know about the Chime Cliffs, beloved._

_Why don't you want to tell them?_

_We did nothing worth recognition, Michi. I just feel . . . tired when I think about it._

"Does your wife request your silence, Princess?"

Haruka looked up at Ayumi, smiling kindly at the Ninth War Queen. "My wife shares my heart, but she does not yet understand my reluctance to talk about Miranda. I went there to perform the _Kaniihk'cha_ ritual and I learned more about my past than I wanted to see. I spent last night considering what I saw."

"Your soul ended on Miranda? Princess, very few _powerful_ warriors have ever died on that desert moon." The slight emphasis on the word powerful indicated that the War Queens knew that none of the failed Chime Cliff mountaineers could possibly have been the carrier of Haruka's soul. Hikari glanced at her fellow War Queens, sensing that Ado, Sanae, Miki, and Hiroko understood the relevance of Haruka having found her soul on Miranda, though the other women were confused. Hikari reached out and opened the small bundle on the table before her, revealing seven tiny feathery flowers, each one a different pair of colors. "The flowers of the _Jakti Lumas_ are distinct among all of the plants of the Silver Millennium, and they only grow in one place."

"The top of the Chime Cliffs," Haruka confirmed, pointing at the navy and gold flower that she had picked. "My soul died there, along with the soul of my wife."

Sanae leaned forward in shock, her green eyes wide. "You carry the soul of Nao the Conqueror," she whispered, awe coloring her tones.

"The _Kaniihk'cha_ ritual revealed that I carry her soul, yes," Haruka replied, holding her hand up for silence as the murmurs in the lower part of the room threatened to erupt into a cacophony of cheers and questions at her revelation. _"I carry her soul, but I am not her. I am Haruka, daughter of Kazeko and Koshu, and I will lead my own life regardless of the identity of the previous carrier of my soul."_ She had spoken in High Mirandan as the noise in the room silenced, making it clear to her people that she would not be seen as or judged as Nao.

Sanae glanced at Ado and tilted her head, clearly asking her superior a question. Ado nodded, and Sanae turned back to Haruka and the gathered princesses. "The _Kaniihk'cha_ ritual is meant to reveal the deepest fears in a warrior's soul and help her come to terms with them so that she can reach her full potential in each lifetime. Most women never learn the true name of the previous carrier of her soul and only receive vague images to indicate what kind of person they were. Despite that, everyone who completes the ritual successfully learns a truth about themselves. What did you learn, Princess Haruka?"

Haruka straightened, the faintest golden light surrounding her lean form. "I learned that I am not afraid of the darkness and that I am strong. No matter what happens, I will spend the rest of my life striving to become the most powerful senshi of Uranus."

Ado smiled and waved her hand at the flowers in front of Hikari. "Then I think we can get to the true purpose of this meeting. Princess, you and your fellow princesses climbed the Chime Cliffs and have joined an elite group of warriors who followed the Dark One's momentous path to recover our beloved goddess from her solitude. As such, you will all be awarded a title that represents the war and arts in scope, the title _Yamakami_."

Michiru snorted in the privacy of Haruka's mind, too well-mannered to make any other response to Ado's words. _What a pretentious people! That means_ mountain god _in High Mirandan, doesn't it?_

_And why shouldn't it? After all, we created the title to honor the goddess who managed to scale the Chime Cliffs despite Uranus's defenses and then determined how to get past the_ Jakti Lumas _cacti through the offering of her blood,_ Haruka replied smugly, clearly quite proud of her heritage. _However, now that I know the dark god, the High Duke of Umbriel, is really Setsuna, I find myself amused that we are about to be honored for following in her footsteps._

Hikari reached into the pile of flowers and lifted the gold and navy one, holding it up for the entire court to see. "Usually, in a situation like this, the warrior is kind enough to bring the flower before the Council herself and request the title, but you seven did not see fit to follow tradition. Miki found these flowers in your armor and brought them to our attention, and we decided that you are all deserving of this title. This is a dual arts and war title, rare among accolades, and it ranks among the top three titles we can award, the other two being the war title _Kazemaru_ and the arts title _Asachou_. Princess Haruka of Uranus, daughter of Kazeko, descendant of Nao the Conqueror, child of the High Duke of Umbriel, you stand before us as _Yamakami_ today. Welcome."

"Welcome, _Yamakami_ Haruka!" The people filling the chamber echoed Hikari's words, their voices unified as they cheered their princess.

Hikari lifted the teal and sapphire flower, smiling at Michiru. "I must admit that I was surprised to see that you reached the top of the Chime Cliffs. You are beautiful, and I have seen that you are brilliant, and I have seen you fight better than many of our own warriors, but that cliff challenges even the strongest and most practiced Uranians. You managed a feat that no other Neptunian has ever achieved."

"Not entirely true," Michiru replied, one hand raised. "After all, the _Kaniihk'cha_ ritual revealed my soul on top of that cliff, as well. Yuuka managed the climb, somehow."

Hikari tilted her head, amused at the response. "Very well, you are the second of your people to reach the top. However, you are most certainly the first to receive the title. Welcome to the Uranian Nobility, _Yamakami_ Michiru, daughter of Shousha, descendant of Yuuka the Magnificent, child of the Seas of Triton."

"Welcome, _Yamakami_ Michiru!"

"Princess Ami, daughter of Amami, descendant of Chieko the Strategist, child of the Line of Hermes, please step forward." Hikari plucked another flower from the pile before her and held it up for the gathered nobles to see, the sapphire color and faint ice blue tips marking it as the property of the Senshi of Mercury. "The people of your world are known for their brilliance but there are no significant mountains or cliffs on your planet. Never before have I heard of a Mercurian attempting a climb of this magnitude. I am extremely impressed with your achievement."

"Forgive me, Hikari, but I could never have done it without the help of my friends. I do not feel like I accomplished much at all."

Sayuri, a distant relative of the petite Mercurian princess, leaned forward from her place at the table, blue/black hair hanging in front of her dark blue eyes. "No one said that you had to climb the mountain alone. As a matter of fact, no Uranian has ever reached the top of the Chime Cliffs alone, especially considering the strange nature of the rock itself. Even Nao had Yuuka. With both the rock and the wind desperate to prevent you from reaching the top, it is a miracle that you could finish the climb at all. You have never climbed a mountain before and some of your friends have not, either. All of you deserve this title, and we as a people are honored to have all of you join the elite ranks of the _Yamakami_."

"Welcome, _Yamakami_ Ami!" Ami blushed at the words, edging closer to Makoto.

The next flower Hikari plucked was the gold and orange one that had bloomed for Minako, the bright colors suited to the senshi of beauty. "When a Uranian touches the _Jakti Lumas_ cactus, the colors of the flowers brought before the Council tend to be strong but dark. We are warriors, and the cacti seem to know that. Haruka's flower is one of the brightest ever recorded, and of course the flowers of off-worlders have always been quite colorful, as well. Your flower is among the brightest and most vibrant I have ever seen, and I am glad to see that your physical beauty extends to your soul."

Murata Ayumi stood from her chair and glanced at Hikari, silently asking to complete the rite for the daughter of her grandmother's world. Hikari nodded. "Minako, daughter of Asakaze, descendant of Minami the Gentle, child of the Light of Aphrodite, as a relative of your world and lineage, I am honored to welcome the first Venusian _Yamakami_."

"Welcome, _Yamakami_ Minako!"

Hikari resumed her role as speaker for the War Queens as the cheers for Minako died down. "Rei, daughter of Rikuriko, descendant of Reiko the Fierce, child of the Sword of Ares, please step forward." Hikari lifted the red and purple flower, holding it toward Rei as she continued. "You are not the first Martian to attempt the climb, though you are among a select few who reached the top. It has been over five centuries since we have awarded this title to one of your people, and we are proud to welcome you to the honored rank of the _Yamakami_."

"Welcome, _Yamakami_ Rei!"

Makoto's flower was dark green with pink tips, a color combination that Haruka had called odd when the _Jakti Lumas_ cactus flowered. "Princess Makoto, daughter of Meika, descendant of Mariya the Just, child of the Wilds of Ganymede, you are welcome here among us. Many Jovians have visited Miranda and quite a few have reached the top of the Chime Cliffs. I believe that the last _Yamakami_ from your family was your great-grandmother, though one of her brothers died in the attempt. Your actions have brought him and the rest of your family great honor among us, and we are pleased to grant you the title that so many in your family have quested to attain."

"Welcome, _Yamakami_ Makoto!"

Hikari carefully cradled the final flower in her hands, glancing at Ado for permission before walking around the table. The other nine War Queens followed her, standing before the gathered princesses on the empty area of the dais above the Lesser War Queens' tables. Hikari knelt in front of Serenity with the silver and gold flower in her hands, waiting for the other War Queens to echo her action before she began to speak. "There has never been a princess of the line of Serenity to step on the sands of Miranda. None of your ancestors has walked the crystal sands, none has attempted to climb the Chime Cliffs, and certainly none have offered the gift of blood to our goddess's _Jakti Lumas_ cacti. Your flower reflects the gentle purity of your soul, and all of Uranus is proud to offer you the first title ever granted a princess of the Moon. Princess Serenity, descendant of Eurynome and the goddess whose name you carry, child of the Silver Moon, we welcome you as a member of the Uranian Nobility."

"Welcome, _Yamakami_ Serenity!" As the gathered nobles cheered, Haruka fell to her knees beside the War Queens, smiling ruefully as she offered the same fealty as her people, the other princesses kneeling with her, regardless of the difficulty offered by some of their dresses. Serenity blushed, not used to feeling superior to her friends, but she couldn't say anything as tears of pride and joy filled her eyes. When she scaled the cliff with her senshi, she had never once cared about the outcome, but now that she had been "knighted" as a member of the Uranian nobility, she could not remember anything she had done in her life that made her so happy.

* * *

"What an odd ceremony," Ami murmured, typing her observations into her computer while her fellow princesses finished their evening meal. After the ceremony, they had changed back into simple fighting armor and spent the rest of the day practicing their fighting skills against the many _Kazemaru_ members of the war councils who were eager to face the senshi in combat. They had not found a moment to talk about the council meeting until they gathered in privacy for their evening meal. "Haruka, when Ayumi, Sanae, and Hikari questioned you about our trip to the top of the Chime Cliffs, you told them that you performed the _Kaniihk'cha_ ritual. What is that?"

"I think Sanae explained it adequately," Haruka replied, spearing some blue _lakha_ wheat noodles on her plate. "Every Uranian warrior seeks to connect with her previous life, to see what lessons she learned in the past so that she does not repeat the same mistakes again, in this incarnation. Most of them, through many years of rituals and meditation, can determine where they died, and they will then consult the local government's records of deaths in the area to see if their soul recognizes one. As I'm sure you can understand, this process is sometimes futile. One of my distant cousins found her soul in a busy hospital on Deimos and it became impractical for her to find her name."

"What do the warriors do when they can't identify their soul?"

"They will usually complete the _Kaniihk'cha_ ritual anyway, hoping that some glimmer of recognition will break through the cacophony of souls lost in that place. If the warrior does find her name, however, many sentimental items from her previous life can be used to channel the spirit and the ritual is usually much more successful. Depending on the strength of the warrior and the vibrancy of her soul, sometimes she is able to relive very brief but powerful moments from her previous life and retain some lesson from the ritual. Not all warriors attempt the _Kaniihk'cha_ ritual and not all can complete it once they begin. Sometimes a man has successfully completed a _Kaniihk'cha_ , but it is very uncommon. The ritual was made for women of great power."

"Is that what we did?" Rei waved her hand vaguely toward Miranda, the moon hanging serenely in the Oberon sky. Obviously, since both Miranda and Oberon were satellites of Uranus, they were not orbiting each other, but Miranda's position in its orbit near its larger companion made it appear that it was hanging above the capital city of Oberon. "Did we all complete a _Kaniihk'cha_ ritual?"

"Yes. We did not originally know the names of our previous incarnations, but because we died in unique locations and we knew those locations, we were able to connect with our souls' memories. We saw more in our rituals than has ever been recorded by other warriors who were successful in completing the _Kaniihk'cha_. Because of your help and Serenity's unique power, I was able to see even more than the rest of you."

Michiru glanced up at her wife, placing her cup down before folding her hands in her lap. "Haruka, how long have your people been practicing the _Kaniihk'cha_? It is unique among the nine worlds."

"Yes, it is. I believe that the first recorded _Kaniihk'cha_ occurred almost seven thousand years ago, near the beginning of our recorded history. Before that time, Uranians were a violent, warlike collection of tribes with no clear leader, but our first queen was born to Uranus seventy-seven hundred years ago and united our people. Her descendant, Kisha, ruled sixty-nine hundred years ago and taught our people how to see into their souls."

"What did she see?"

Haruka shrugged, unable to answer Rei's question. "I never researched that."

Ami tapped a few commands into her computer, accessing the public Uranian records and requesting the information. "Most warriors report their completed rituals to the main library, including the names of their souls and the location of their death. That way, if they are reborn again, they can find themselves more quickly the next time," Ami murmured, summarizing the heading on the _Kaniihk'cha_ database files. "It seems that Queen Kisha recorded her own experience here as well as outlining meditations and rituals that would help her people see their souls, as well. The name of her previous soul was Kiurani."

"Kiurani! Ami, that's the name of the first true queen of Uranus, the daughter of our goddess. Uranus told me that I carry her soul."

"Then you also carry the soul of Kisha, Naurani, Jishae, and, of course, Nao." The library was updated every time it received data on newly completed rituals, linking all known carriers of a single soul for faster archiving.

Haruka glanced at Michiru, shock giving way to confusion. "If I was Kisha, then she did not learn how to perform the _Kaniikh'cha_ ritual, she created it. Why would she be so concerned with soul lineage?"

"For you," Minako answered, offering the only possible answer. "She needed you, her ultimate descendant, to be able to see her previous lives. Our soul grows through each life, each incarnation, and that is how the ultimate senshi will be born. We need lifetimes of experience and knowledge to reach the level of power that Uranus has indicated we are reaching, not just centuries of good breeding."

"Uranus seemed to think that we have reached it. Her words to Haruka claimed that we are already the ultimate senshi."

"No, Makoto, I don't think we are yet," Ami replied cautiously, her mind analyzing all of the new data offered to her and extrapolating the only possible conclusion available. "If we are growing more powerful by remembering only parts of our previous lives, then it stands to reason that we must have full access to every one of our former incarnations in order to reach our full and ultimate potential."

"Don't we have to die again for that to happen?" Serenity's question silenced her fellow princesses, echoing the same question they had been asking themselves for weeks.

"We'll find a way to reach our full power without needing another reincarnation," Haruka replied, fists clenched beside her plate. She _would not_ accept death.

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **AN:** _(Spoilers for "Kazeko" and Sailor Stars season follow; read at your own risk)_ I've been planning Miranda forever, and I wanted the senshi to have to cross a desert in order to reach this secret place where Uranus hid from her fellow gods. The cacti were fashioned after venus fly traps and mosquitoes. Venus fly traps eat flies to get enough protein to grow and female mosquitoes eat blood in order to reproduce, so I combined those two concepts to create the cacti. I wanted the spines to react to pressure because no creature would land on normal spines in a way that would permit the use of hypodermic needle-like spines to absorb the blood. Many animals would land on a smooth surface, allowing the cacti to choose when to feed. The flowers, reproduction, are the reason that the cacti need blood, and those flowers are the proof needed to show the council that a warrior reached the tops of the cliffs. Also, the cacti ask for blood in the name of Uranus because that is the greatest sacrifice one can give, a portion of her own life.
> 
> I actually had Haruka grow a braid during her pregnancy in one of my other fics, and I thought it would be interesting to have her wear one here. I used to have very long hair myself, and when I cut it all off I felt that loss that Haruka points out in this chapter. And there would be no reason for Nao to look like Haruka, though she would share the same coloration that is so common among the Uranian nobility.
> 
> The god story is something I've considered for a long time. Obviously, I adjusted the details for this fic, but I have considered that it would be very easy for highly advanced beings from another world to be perceived as gods by primitive humans, even to this day. There's no reason that the gods of any mythology – Greek, Hindu, Norse, Native American, Judeo-Christian, Islam, Native African, etc – could not be real or have been real (you've seen _Thor_?) and I do so love the complexity and humanity of the Greek mythos. This is the first time I have put the origin of the gods in Sailor Moon into concrete words, but the struggle between Chaos and Order, including the introduction of Balance to control both, are used in "Kazeko" extensively.
> 
> Galaxia's origins are revealed here. Her mother was Serenity and her "father" was Sailor Moonlight, the last one before Ailan takes that role in "Kazeko". Her mother Serenity is the one who begged Hades to seal the Moonlight Crystal away to prevent any woman from suffering her heartache when the carrier of that crystal inevitably died. This is why Setsuna told the other senshi that Sailor Sol could not rise, because she cannot be born without the power of the Moonlight Crystal. Setsuna cannot tell Serenity that Moonlight was Galaxia and Sol's father because of the threat posed by Balance at this point in the time line.
> 
> Now that Haruka has seen her past self and her death, she knows what she is not: weak. She refuses to be broken to the point where she would sacrifice her power and her soul mate to save the Silver Millennium. Of course, Nao's fears are justified in Sailor Stars when Galaxia comes to the Sol System to find the ultimate star seed. Haruka is going to unlock the Planet Crystals and seal her own fate in her next life, death at Galaxia's hands. She will also give in to her deepest fear there, that she is not strong, and she will betray her princess to get Galaxia's power in the hopes of defeating her. In the end, she was wrong in both lives: no amount of force or destructive power can stop Galaxia, only Usagi's power of love.


	30. Movements of Darkness

**Chapter 30: Movements of Darkness**

* * *

_March 6, 8983_

* * *

Endymion had never had the opportunity to be bored. He was the Crown Prince of Earth, the most important young noble on his admittedly primitive planet, so his days were filled with meetings, scheduled outings, and endless hours with his advisors, tutors, and lords. Today, however, he had sent them all away so he could have some time to himself in the silence of his private garden. His roses calmed his mind but did nothing to soothe the lonely pain in his heart.

Standing from his stone bench, the young prince marched through his rose bushes to the hidden transportation platform, stormy blue eyes narrowed in contemplation. He had been in contact with the Moon and the Queen for years through the communication center she had helped him update and keep running, but he had never dared to visit the silent silver satellite hanging in the clear blue sky. Steeling his resolve, Endymion stepped onto the platform that had carried his beloved princess away from him so many times.

* * *

"You're going to be late to Michiru's party."

"Nonsense," Setsuna replied, smiling as she finished her breakfast. "Everything is on schedule. My ship left Pluto a little while ago and is expected to arrive in orbit above Neptune by planetary midmorning. I will appear on the bridge and transport down with my maids and clothing in plenty of time to join the party."

"Will you spend the night there, on Triton?"

Setsuna nodded, running her fingers through her dark green hair. "I haven't spent enough time with my sister queens these past few decades, and I have to admit that I miss them. After what Haruka said to me at the meeting and after that dream I had about Nao, I'm feeling my humanity more than ever."

"Oh?" Serenity's eyebrows shot up into her hairline as she smirked at the dark queen. "The days you have spent with me didn't influence this at all?"

Setsuna grinned, more at ease in her lover's presence than she could ever remember feeling during her multiple lifetimes on Olympus among the gods. "I'm sure you have something to do with it."

A sharp knock on the door to Serenity's private chamber ended their conversation, the queen standing in confusion as she beckoned the visitor in. The door opened a crack, admitting Serenity's slender youngest maid, the girl bowing as she entered the opulent chamber. "Forgive me, Majesty, but your royal guards caught a man in the south wing of the palace, and he seems to be a foreigner."

"Seems to be? Parya, where is he now?"

"They have taken him to the Royal Guard Chamber in the lower level and have asked that you visit as soon as possible. He claims to know you."

Serenity sighed and dropped her head, walking out of her suite behind Parya, knowing that Setsuna's curiosity would encourage her to follow. The young servant led the queens to the central chamber for the Royal Guard, a room that doubled as a detention center in the rare occasion that the guards had a reason to hold someone for questioning. In the center of room, loosely attended by a trio of silver-garbed warriors, the young man who had been caught in the south wing was a dark, though regal, contrast to the pale and white-garbed Lunarians. His hair was black, a color almost never seen outside of the Plutonian and Saturnian populations, though his dark, stormy blue eyes were not that uncommon among the people of the Silver Millennium. His height and broad shoulders helped prove that he was a foreigner to the Moon, though such features might not stand out so much on Jupiter or Pluto. His dark armor and cloak were very clearly expensive, black with silver and gold accents, and the two-handed sword resting on the table across the room had been forged with care for a leader.

"You're not a royal of the Silver Millennium." Setsuna spoke before Serenity could, her voice oddly harsh. She almost recognized the man, but something was off about his hair color. The silver-haired queen glanced up at her lover, raising one eyebrow in reprimand, her dark-skinned partner relenting and backing away.

The man watched the silent exchange as a slow smile spread across his face, blue eyes lighting up in amusement. He chose to turn away from Setsuna's venomous gaze and focus on the woman who was clearly in charge, his royal training having prepared him for a meeting like this. "Well, Queen Serenity, I am glad to finally meet you in person. I wasn't expecting your lover to be so rude, however."

Setsuna moved forward before she even realized what she was doing, Serenity's hand on her arm bringing her back to reality. The queen smiled at her senshi, lavender eyes calm as she spoke to her guards without releasing Setsuna's gaze. "Leave us alone." The guards bowed and left, not questioning their queen's order. They did not need a reason or explanation, and they knew that the green-haired senshi of Pluto would protect Serenity if the strange man became a danger to the queen. As soon as the last guard left, Serenity released Setsuna's arm and turned back to the visitor, smiling gently at him. "How did you know?"

"I can see the way she looks at you. Besides, I hear that relationships among the queens of the Silver Millennium are incredibly common, if not well-known outside the various royal courts."

"True, but you are not a member of one of those courts. I don't recognize your armor pattern or your coloration."

The man shrugged and leaned back in his chair, arms behind his head. "No, I'm not, but I do know a lot about them. We've never technically met before, Queen Serenity, but we have exchanged hundreds of messages over the years."

Serenity smiled as she finally recognized the man, sensing Setsuna relax beside her in an instinctive response to her mood. "You're Endymion, aren't you? You're the Crown Prince of Earth." The senshi of Pluto berated herself in the privacy of her mind, irritated that she did not recognize him as the king in the vision of the future she had shared with the rest of the senshi on Titan, young Serenity's chosen.

"How did you get here?" Setsuna realized what she had asked and tilted her head at the young man. There was only one way for a mundane to travel from Earth to the Moon, a hidden transport system installed thousands of years earlier, which would explain why he was in the south wing of the palace. "Sorry, wrong question. Why would you want to come here?"

"He's looking for Serenity," the queen replied softy, remembering some of the many communications she had exchanged with the prince over the years. "We have discussed the possibility of a marriage to create an alliance between the Earth and the Moon in the hopes of bringing Earthlings into the Silver Millennium."

Endymion nodded, crossing his arms over his chest as he leaned back in the chair. "I'm not sure if you were aware, but Serenity has been visiting my private gardens for some time now, and she has agreed to this union."

"Yes, I know about your plans, and I know her reasons. I'm not sure where you got the idea for this union, however." The warrior's posture was still defensive, wary of the young human despite his likely presence in her future.

"It's time that we stop pretending that the Earth doesn't exist," Serenity replied. "They were a member of the Silver Millennium in the beginning, before all of the wars and before their princes lost so much power. Since Tranquility chose to breed sons instead of daughters, the power of the Earth Royal Line has fluctuated greatly over the centuries. Endymion here is the strongest son his lineage has ever created, and I think it is time to unite Earth and its Moon into a single kingdom, as the other planets have been unified over the centuries."

"The silver Moon will fall to the Earth in a harvest of desperate Ruin," Setsuna whispered, her voice dark and foreboding. "Perhaps an alliance between the two could keep the prophecy from coming to pass." She tilted her head as she regarded the young prince, crimson eyes narrowing slightly. "Serenity visiting your world is not the reason you came here today."

"No. Serenity told me that she was planning to visit Triton today for the Neptunian princess's birthday party and I was hoping that you could take me."

Setsuna's mouth fell open in shock at the man's words, at a loss for words. She gained control of her emotions almost instantly, but Endymion's smirk and Serenity's giggle proved that her lapse had not passed unobserved. She had been in this mortal form for far too long if she could no longer control her emotions. "You want to go to Triton? Prince, I can honestly say that no Earthling has visited the other planets in almost nine thousand years, and visits to the Moon have become almost non-existent. How can you expect to visit Triton and attend one of the most prestigious parties of the century?"

Endymion shrugged. "I expect that you have the ability to teleport with me and that I can pass as a noble from your world in order to gain entry. After I arrive, I would spend the party with Serenity and her senshi, and you won't have to worry about me anymore."

Setsuna turned to her queen, expecting the silver-haired woman to object to the prince's plan, but Serenity was slowly nodding. "If we are ever to bring the Earth into the Silver Millennium, we must begin to expect their royals to attend our highest functions. I think you should take Endymion with you, Se."

"Fine. I suppose if his presence makes your daughter happy, I will let him accompany me to Triton."

* * *

Dawn spread across the pale blue sands of Triton, diving into the turbulent sapphire seas and climbing the emerald cliffs before falling lazily across the courtyard of the imposing palace. Tall white and blue spires stared down at the morning light, daring the sunlight to peer into the crystal-paned windows, but eventually the dawn grew into morning and the light of the artificial sun roused even the deepest of sleepers.

Shousha stirred from her dreams, vague memories of her lost lover fading back into the dark recesses of her mind. Her blue eyes narrowing against the bright sunlight streaming through her silky curtains, she forced herself from her bed and glanced around her room, finding her morning tea and taking a sip before heading for her meeting room. Three of her servants and two of her ladies-in-waiting met her there, silently helping her out of her sleeping gown and into an underskirt and corset, Lady Juriko tightening the laces while Lady Miruma positioned Shousha's breasts. "Which dress did you choose to wear today, Majesty?"

"The seamstress delivered a silver and blue one last night."

Juriko walked out of the meeting room and into Shousha's study, finding the dress that had been delivered overnight and shaking it out. Returning to her queen, she helped Shousha into the garment, gesturing for Miruma to gather some appropriate jewelry while one of the servants brought a selection of crowns. Shousha considered her jewelry options while Miruma and one of the servants adjusted the hem of her gown, looking up at an unexpected knock on her door. Juriko headed into the main suite and opened the door a crack, conversing with the servant on the other side for a moment before nodding and returning to the queen. "We just received a message from Uranus announcing the impending arrival of the ten War Queens."

Shousha raised one eyebrow, remembering the displays of force Kazeko had loved to use when she visited other worlds. "How many ships are they bringing?"

"Each War Queen will bring only her own flagship and a moderate escort, according to the message. The ships from Venus and Mars will be here within the hour and Pluto's ship is expected an hour after that. The palaces of Saturn, Mercury, and Jupiter have not sent a definitive time for their ships to arrive, but we are expecting them to arrive within an hour of Pluto's."

"Have you arranged all of the guest rooms for them?"

"Yes, Majesty."

"Very well. As soon as we are finished here, go make sure that the chef is ready to provide a light lunch for our guests and that the dinner menu will be ready in time."

* * *

"Big day."

Michiru nodded, running a brush through her wavy hair, teal eyes distant. She heard the words that Haruka could not say out loud and felt her wife's mild trepidation whispering through their strengthening bond. "I'm not worried about the party or even about my mother, Ruka."

"But you are worried."

The Neptunian nodded, knowing that she could hide nothing from her wife. "Your plan is . . . audacious."

"You don't think it will work."

"Ruka, I want nothing more than for it to work, but it seems so strange. You're basing your analysis of the Planet Crystal situation on a single moment from your interaction with Uranus. It's a lot to be riding on something like that."

Haruka nodded and glanced away, wild bangs covering her blue-green eyes. "I know. But for that instant during our _Kaniikh'cha_ , I knew how Nao could force her emotions on Uranus, and I knew why she wanted to. That's the key, Michi, and I know that it will work. It has to."

Michiru placed her brush back onto the small bedside table, silently gathering her beauty supplies and replacing them in her travel bag before speaking again. She rarely let her servants and ladies-in-waiting assist her in preparing for the day, preferring to live more simply than most princesses, even eschewing the usual servants offered to a princess visiting one of the worlds of the Silver Millennium. She also preferred to clean up after herself, a habit that had driven her servants and mother crazy on more than one occasion. "After today, Setsuna will know what we did. This will be our only chance to activate the crystals, won't it?"

"Yes."

"Then we will simply have to succeed."

* * *

Ami glared at the pile of luggage over the edge of her hand-held computer, sighing as she nudged a green and white bag to the side in order to count the trio of pink ones behind it. "Mako, could you at least pretend to pack neatly? Your bags are bulging too much for anything to sit safely on top of them. How do you expect us to get all of this onto the ship if nothing fits together?"

Makoto grinned at Ami's exasperation, glancing over her shoulder at the other princesses as she leaned back against the wall. "I'm sure everything will fit just fine. I'm pretty good at stacking bags and I'm certain I can organize these efficiently."

Ami turned and glared at the Jovian, sapphire eyes sparking with the closest thing to irritation that the petite princess had ever expressed. "After the mess you made of your bags, there is no way I am going to let you anywhere near the cargo bays. We have dozens of servants who are much better at organization than you."

"Jovians are nomadic, tribal people and we can certainly pack a bag."

Ami closed her computer and let it vanish, stepping forward and grabbing the front of Makoto's shirt, surprising the warrior and her fellow senshi. "Next time we go traveling, let the servants pack your bags."

"Or what?"

"Or you will be unpacking them in your own room."

"Ouch!" Makoto raised a hand to her heart, pouting as the other senshi began to chuckle. "You would do that to me, my sweet Ami? You would banish me from your presence?"

The blue-haired genius smiled, abandoning her aggressive posture as she leaned up and kissed her lover gently. "No, of course not."

Makoto wrapped her long arms around the Mercurian and leaned down for a longer kiss, the slightest moisture visible in the corner of her closed eyes. From the other side of the room, Haruka caught Rei's eyes, seeing a familiar steely darkness in those purple orbs.

"Makoto is stressed."

"Ami isn't doing so well, herself," Rei pointed out, keeping her voice low enough that Minako, Michiru, and Serenity couldn't hear her. They continued organizing the luggage and servants with the help of Miki and Laira, arguing over the placement of a few lumpy packages and something marked fragile that Minako had bought in the markets of Ariel the day before. "Mina, you, and I have met our gods. We touched them, impaled them, and kissed them and all of us felt that connection between them and the demigod parts of our souls. Makoto, Ami, and Michiru have never met their gods and now you're asking them to reach for something they don't understand. By Ares's Blade, I'm not sure _I_ know what you're asking us to do."

Haruka hung her head, blonde bangs covering her emerald eyes. "We are sisters, the six of us, and we have a bond that none of us truly understand yet. When I met with Uranus, when she kissed me, I _felt_ a similar connection with her, but far stronger and far older. Kazeko was my mother of my body, but Uranus was the mother of my soul, and I know that I can connect with her in the same way that Nao was able to. Tonight, when the time comes, I will know what to do and I will tell you."

The Martian ran her fingers through her fiery hair as she watched the other princesses, sensing her lover start to worry about something she may or may not have remembered to pack. "We trust you, Haruka." She couldn't think of anything else to say, but she knew that it wasn't needed. The Uranian only asked them to follow her as the rightful leader of the senshi and they would do their best.

* * *

"It's not a long flight to Neptune, but the captain has chosen to take the most scenic route possible. You should be happy that we get to see all of the moons of Uranus and Neptune before we teleport off the ship."

Minako looked up from necklace she had been admiring, tilting her head to the side. "Haruka, is Neptune still further from the sun than Pluto?"

"I have no idea. Ami?"

The genius glanced up from the book of prophecies, sapphire eyes distant for a moment as she calculated something so she could offer a response. "Yes, it is currently, but only for another year or two. However, they are not anywhere near each other so our trip will not take us past Setsuna's planet." Her eyes skimmed across the passage she had been reading one more time before she turned the page, sighing as she translated the title and moved on to the next page. "Some of these prophecies are so incredibly convoluted that I'm not sure I'm translating them correctly." She paused for a moment, something about her posture calling Makoto across the richly-appointed observation room. "This one . . . this prophecy is called _Rebirth_."

"That's the one! That's the prophecy Uranus told us to read." Haruka pushed herself out of her own chair and moved to stand beside Ami, emerald eyes scanning down the page across letters she could not hope to read. "What does it say?"

"Give me a moment. In Ancient Lunarian, this is written in verse and I would like to preserve the rhyme and meter as much as possible." Ami summoned her computer and typed something on it, frowning as she revised her notes before carefully closing the prophecy book and raising her eyes. "Look, I don't understand this, but I will read it to you nonetheless.

_Never can cold darkness claim those born of god blood true_

_When evil screams, a light will shine to give them lives anew_

_The moon can fall and bodies break, but souls will slip away_

_And soldiers now will one day be reborn some peaceful day_

"That's all there is."

Haruka leaned back in her seat, blue-green eyes distant as she considered the words, glancing at her wife seated beside the young genius. "That's a literal translation?"

"As literal as I can make it," Ami replied, narrowing her eyes at her computer, "though Ancient Lunarian only translates well into Ancient Plutonian which then must pass through modern Plutonian before I can get a decent rhyme and meter in Sol Standard. However, since this is the only prophecy in the entire book that refers to the six of us as children of the gods and Uranus recommended it to you after mentioning that she was the mother of your soul, I would say that this is the premonition you asked me to find."

"Is this prophecy saying that we are destined to die? And what does the part about the moon falling mean? It can't be literal since I doubt anyone has the power to knock the Earth's satellite out of orbit, and what is the light in the second line?"

"I think it could be the ginzuishou," Serenity offered, taking a small green data crystal from Ami and inserting it into the main computer in the observation room. "From the translations we have of the other prophecies, I would say that _a light_ or _the light_ is the most common image ascribed to my lineage's crystal."

"I agree with the princess," Michiru replied, glancing at the book in Ami's lap and the prophecies on the screen overhead. "If the light is the ginzuishou, then perhaps the evil that screams could be this darkness coming from the sun that we talked about on Titan. I would think that _cold darkness_ refers to death, the end of our cycle, and the final line means that we will continue to be reborn regardless of the danger we face."

"Until when?" Minako kept her pale blue eyes locked on Michiru even as the other senshi turned to face her at the question. "If this prophecy only said that we will be reborn regardless of how or why we die just because we are soldiers with the blood of gods in our veins, then Uranus would never have bothered to point Haruka toward it. What is so important about these four lines is that they define the end of our duty." Shocked silence filled the chamber as Minako's words sank in, all seven princesses turning toward the projection screen as Ami's translation of _Rebirth_ filled the air.

"Our duty will end when we are reborn during a time of peace?"

"No, Mako, that's not quite it," Ami corrected, closing the ancient book carefully as she took a deep breath. "Our cycle of rebirth will be completed when we _create_ an era of peace. When the wars are over, our duty will finally be finished."

"Then what?"

"I don't know, Minako, but I would assume that we will not be soldiers anymore after that. I cannot speculate on what we would become."

"It doesn't matter what we become," Michiru whispered, sapphire eyes rising to meet her wife's brightening emerald, "as long as we don't have to fight anymore."

* * *

"Mercury sent three fleets?"

Meika glanced up from the tactical map floating in the center of the bridge, ignoring the disapproving scowl from her three generals as she addressed her husband. "It seems so. Amami wanted to make an entrance."

"She has never cared about that before," Meisha scoffed, accepting the explanation as he turned back toward the viewscreen and the dozens of ships marked with the symbol of the Mercury Royal Family floating serenely around Neptune. Each of the planets had been asked to keep their fleets orbiting a different moon, but the asteroid size of all of Neptune's secondary moons meant that most of the ships were clustered around the gas giant and her only notable satellite, Triton. The fleet admirals were trying desperately to coordinate the thousands of warships and escorts vying for position, but order was impossible among the largest peacetime gathering of capital ships ever seen above the large blue-green world. "How many fleets do you see from Venus?"

"Six," Meika murmured, tapping on the floating screen and ordering a redeployment of her forces with a simple wave of her hand. "And Mars has seven. Pluto only has one full fleet, but the Queen's ship is accompanied by seventeen escort cruisers. Saturn has five capital ships with twenty escort- or raider-sized ships accompanying each, and our five fleets brings the number of ships too high to safely navigate the space around Neptune and her moons."

"And Uranus?"

The Fleet Admiral, a grizzled veteran of hundreds of engagements both in space and on the ground, chuckled into his beard, running his fingers across the dark green tattoo on his cheek that marked him as a Warrior-Sage of the Lower Io Plains Tribe. "Majesty, the desert planet has sent all ten War Queens in _Klihjhau_ -class warships, seven large battle cruisers and seventy smaller warships accompanying each one. There are also fifteen smaller war ships for the visiting Lesser War Queens, and the leader of the War Chiefs is also present."

"The _Klihjhau_ -class is the largest group of war ships among the Silver Millennium fleets," Meika added, nodding as she finally found a place for her ships to orbit safely. "Each War Queen commands up to seventy battle cruisers, but the bulk of their fleets are scattered throughout the system protecting us from the darkness we saw in the vision on Titan. Still, this is the greatest show of force from Uranus in a while, and certainly the largest group of warships not led by a sitting queen." She checked the ship deployments reports from the other eight planets, convinced that this impressive show of force had not significantly diminished the ships that Haruka had ordered into the system to search for that darkness from the time knot. "The com traffic indicates that King Koshu, now identified only as Consort of Former Queen Kazeko, is among the visiting nobles."

"I thought he was out looking for his daughter?"

"No, he stopped that when the War Queens threatened to revolt once they realized that he had no way to find her. It seems that they managed to depose him, after all." Meika stepped away from the holographic display, trusting that her military leaders could find safe orbits for her ships as she took her husband's arm and led him off the bridge. "Let's get ready to fly down to Triton."

* * *

Haruka pulled at the bottom of her tunic, shaking her head at the seamstress. "It's still too loose," she grumbled, feeling the rich material rubbing against her bound breasts in an incredibly uncomfortable way. "Look, Miki and Laira are going to adjust it and give it to you to fix."

"I'm not sure that's the best idea, sir," the Neptunian replied, her dark eyes narrowed in annoyance. "Her Majesty instructed me to fashion your suit for the presentation, and I cannot leave such matters in untrained hands."

Michiru, having watched the trio of seamstresses work with her wife over the last hour, carefully rose from her plush blue couch and clasped her hands in front of her skirt. Her five ladies-in-waiting, recognizing their princess's anger, backed toward the edge of the room where the other senshi were lounging patiently. "If the three of you had any idea how to dress a Uranian, we wouldn't have to ask a War Queen and Lesser War Queen to assist you. However, since you are patently incapable of completing this task, you will leave and wait for one of my servants to bring you the tunic and jacket once Laira and Miki are finished."

"Highness, it wouldn't be appropriate—"

"For a Neptunian Lady and her equivalent from the Uranian court to finish what you started so poorly?" Michiru's soft voice was harsh, cutting through the seamstress's objections and silencing the room. Here, among her people, it was clear that she was bred to lead; her stance, voice, and gaze demanded instant obedience and allowed no room for argument. The lead seamstress seemed eager to continue the conversation, but Michiru tilted her head slightly and watched as the trio silently left the room. As soon as they were gone, Michiru's ladies relaxed, indicating to the senshi that the danger had passed while the Neptunian princess herself turned to her wife and smiled. "I'm sorry about all of this, Ruka. My mother sent those three in here to annoy me."

Haruka chuckled as she loosened the fasteners on her new tunic, fingering the rich fabric and metallic threading along the edges. "They've had to deal with your mother for the past two decades, Michi, and they're reacting to you as if you were her."

"I'm not her," the aquanette whispered, turning away from her wife, a strange sadness in her soft voice. "I never will be, no matter what happens." There was a soft conviction in her voice, as if she knew something about the future that she couldn't or wouldn't share with her friends. Haruka elected to ignore the comment, knowing that whatever was bothering her wife wasn't something the Neptunian was ready to discuss in public, but perhaps she would be willing to talk later.

One of Michiru's ladies-in-waiting, the eldest daughter of the Lord of Proteus, stepped forward, more comfortable around Michiru now that the queen's seamstresses were gone. "Michiru, I'm sure that we can finish the adjustments to your wife's tunic without needing to bother her war queens."

A shocked silence filled the room as the five ladies-in-waiting waited patiently for an answer, Michiru slowly turning back to face the group. "How did you know?"

Chinura smiled at her princess, her fellow ladies equally amused by the question. "We know that your partner must be a woman because you are undoubtedly a lesbian. Now, how did we know that you're a lesbian? Princess, the only person in the entire Neptunian Court in the dark about that is your mother, despite being one herself. She's so desperate for you to be 'normal' that she has ignored every sign over the past fourteen years."

"I am normal," Michiru replied, glancing at her fellow senshi proudly. "We are meant to be with our soul mates, and Haruka is mine. I hope Mother understands."

Chinura nodded as she moved forward, rolling up the sleeves of her simple day dress as she approached the taller Uranian, helping her remove the heavily embroidered tunic and pulling on the dark navy under-tunic. "I assume you wear a warrior's corset under your tunic to flatten your breasts?"

Haruka shook her head, amazed that anyone on Neptune knew anything about making a woman look more like a man. "My father stopped approving of me dressing in men's clothing once my breasts formed, so I was never able to have one made."

"Well, simply tying them back won't make tonight any easier. No one on Neptune sells anything like that, so we will have to find someone in your entourage who can lend you one. Once we get one of those, I should be able to fit your under-tunic better and the tunic shouldn't bother you as much."

Haruka nodded and walked to the communications terminal against the wall, tapping in her aunt's private communication code and her own identifying marker to ensure a quick response. Ono Hikari appeared above the transmitter a moment later, the War Queen smiling at her princess from her own guest suite on the other side of the palace. "I thought you were all busy with the seamstresses this morning, Haruka."

"I was, but we seem to be missing a key component of my wardrobe."

"Ah, the warrior's corset. I suppose you don't have any."

"As if my father would have allowed it."

Hikari nodded sagely, glancing to the side before turning back to the screen. "None of mine will fit you. You're much leaner than me and most of the other War Queens, but I believe that one of my seamstresses got your measurements yesterday and had a few tailored for you. I'll send Miki over with them in a few minutes."

"Thanks, Hikari." Haruka turned the communicator off, turning back to Michiru's quintet of ladies, surprised to find a look of shock on Chinura's face. "What?"

"Did she just offer to send one of your War Queens on a servant's errand? No Lady would be allowed to run such low errands."

Ami, sensing an opportunity to share some of her wealth of knowledge on the culture of the various Silver Millennium societies, stood from her position on the couch, catching Chinura's attention. "In Uranian society, the greatest honor a woman can receive is being allowed to serve her Queen. The War Queens had to earn their titles through proof of dedication to the throne, and aloofness would be inconceivable after everything they went through to be close to her. Servants are fine for actual menial work, but a Uranian noble would never trust an important delivery to anyone less than a Lesser War Chief. For a delivery that requires this amount of discretion, Hikari wouldn't trust anyone other than a fellow War Queen."

Chinura nodded at the explanation, not pretending to understand Uranian society but accepting Ami's explanation nonetheless. "Once the corset arrives, we can finish pining your tunic and send it to the seamstresses. They should have it finished within the hour which will give you plenty of time for a light lunch and your meeting with the Queen before the presentation tonight."

"As long as you can make it stop chafing, I'll be happy."

* * *

Setsuna smoothed her hand over the satin of her dark blue dress, eyeing the black filigree along the hem and jewel-encrusted corset. The servants hovering around the dark queen twisted her hair into loose curls, some of the spirals of midnight green cascading down her back while two servants worked the rest into an intricate bun on the top of her head. Ayano, the young duchess who served as Setsuna's primary assistant, placed one of the oldest Plutonian Royal crowns on the queen's head, a delicate gold heirloom studded with black diamonds, dark garnets, and black opals that sparkled in the artificial sunlight visible through the windows of the Neptunian palace. Setsuna normally avoided crowns, especially ones from her very first incarnation as Sailor Pluto, but for such a formal occasion she could not go without the most obvious symbol of her royal power.

"Majesty, Queen Shousha has requested the honor of your presence in her chambers before the Presentation." Ayano announced the information impassively, but she knew that her queen would enjoy some private time with her fellow monarchs before the main event. "The Earthling wanted you to know that the lunch was too light for his tastes and that he is eager for the main event to begin."

Setsuna grinned and shook her head, amused by the impatience of her new guest. "He just wants to see the princess. Did you manage to convince him that he is not allowed to wear his sword tonight?"

Ayano nodded, smoothing a stray lock of hair over her ear. "He understands. I will have him enter with the rest of our nobles before the Presentation, preferably in the back of the group. By the time the queens enter and are announced, hopefully the rest of the nobles will be too bored to notice him."

Setsuna smirked at the mild annoyance in the Duchess's voice, knowing that her small planet was often overlooked or ignored among its larger, more spectacular cousins. "I'm not sure they would notice him if he was among the first delegation announced. He blends in rather well." She turned toward her mirror and nodded, approving of her dress and hair despite the fact that the color was much brighter and the style much more exciting than what she usually wore. "I think I'm ready."

* * *


	31. Movements of Light

**Chapter 31: Movements of Light**

* * *

_March 6, 8983_

* * *

Endymion had never seen so many nobles gathered in one place before. Hundreds of men and women filled the enormous hall, the blue glass windows stretching nearly five dozen feet before reaching the mosaic ceiling and enormous and intricate white gold chandeliers hanging above the crowd. Every color in the rainbow was represented among the milling nobles, in fabrics he had never seen on Earth, the people collectively wearing more jewels than his entire kingdom could boast. He felt out of place among people whose vibrant hair seemed to come in more shades of color than he could count, except for the Plutonians who seemed to be the most similar to his own people in appearance.

A muted hush seemed to spread through the crowd as a tall Neptunian man with bright green hair and midnight-black eyes stepped up onto the stage. The groups of milling nobles turned their attention to him, knowing that it was time for the royal families to enter and be announced. Neptunians prided themselves on ceremony and presentation, and they were certainly going all out for their princess's birthday party.

The man stepped into an invisible amplification field, clasping his hands behind his back as he began the introductions. He was reciting names from memory, since reading from a holo-imager would be considered rude among his people, especially on such an important occasion. "Welcome to the birthday celebration of Michiru, High Princess of Neptune, Empress apparent of Triton, and future High Priestess of the Seas of Poseidon Temple. She is honored by your presence and your gifts, and it is my privilege to now introduce her most honored guests, the royal families of the Silver Millennium. We will begin by welcoming the children of Hermes to this event, King Kashin and his children High Princess Ami, Princess Hakuchou, and High Prince Kaichou." Kashin led his family onto the stage, bowing to the crowd before moving on. He had chosen a very simple white suit with dark blue trim, cut in a conservative style that was very popular on his world, the colors a stark contrast to his dark aqua and black hair and shocking golden eyes. His coloration had been considered strange among the Neptunians when he was a child, and he stood out even more among his wife's people.

Ami, the Crown Princess and current Sailor Mercury, had chosen an elaborate swan white and ice blue gown for the night, lace along the edges holding tiny aquamarines. She wore a tiara in her dark blue hair and a round blue stone on a chain from her neck. It was the only piece of jewelry the princess allowed herself, and Endymion wondered what significance it held. Ami's younger siblings, the twins Kaichou and Hakuchou, also wore white, both with blue and green accents, though neither was old enough to wear one of the Mercurian Crowns. They were an interesting pair, the princess with white and blue hair and purple eyes while her brother looked slightly more Neptunian with his white and green hair and odd silver eyes.

"I also introduce Her Highness Princess Ria, sister of Queen Amami, and her daughter Lilia the Duchess of Urawa." Ria had chosen a dark blue dress to contrast her light blue hair and green eyes, the woman taller than most of her people though nowhere near the height of the Uranian War Queens waiting offstage behind them. Her daughter was dark where the Queen's sister was light, with very abnormal black hair and her cousin's bright silver eyes. Lilia had chosen a gown of sea green with white accents, ribbons of lace covering the skirt in semi-circular patterns and her hair restrained by delicate silver clips fashioned into butterflies. She smiled as she joined her mother and cousins at the end of the stage, knowing that her odd beauty attracted off-worlders to her even as Mercurians tended to shy away. Rumor had it—and Endymion was amazed at the number of rumors that he had been subjected to in his few hours on Neptune—that she had partnered with one of the Uranian noble women and was currently unavailable.

"It is now my honor to introduce Duchess Haname of Mintara, her husband Duke Jurin of Mintara, and Duke Kounin of Gaoren." The last three members of the Mercurian party joined the king as he left the stage to mingle with the crowd, the two men with ice blue hair while Haname's was a brilliant silvery blue that Endymion had noticed among many of the lower nobles filling the hall. She had the ice blue eyes common among her people while her husband's eyes were a brown often seen on Earth and Kounin had the same silver eyes as his second cousin Kaichou.

"We will continue by welcoming the children of Aphrodite, the Royal Family of Venus, starting with His Majesty King Shinrai, Gladiator High Class of Mars and Emperor of the Golden City. He is accompanied by his daughters the High Princess Minako the Empress of Sunrise Bay, Princess Fuji'iro the Priestess of the Jeweled Mountain, and Princess Gin'iro the Priestess of the Feathered Marshes." King Shinrai, though clothed in the gold and orange colors adored by his wife's people, still carried himself as a Martian, his movements more restrained than a Venusian's and his expression a little more closed. His amber eyes were warm, though, and his red-blonde hair was one of the lightest shades seen among his native people. Minako, however, was almost the opposite. Her beauty marked her as a clear daughter of the Line of Aphrodite, golden hair cascading across her shoulders and down her back only barely restrained by a cluster of bejeweled golden pins, sky blue eyes smiling at everyone in the room as she curtsied. Her dress was far from simple, colored in gold with red and orange filigree covering the entire skirt, hundreds of yellow and orange topazes smothering the corset. She wore plenty of jewelry, as was customary among her people, though her only necklace was a round orange stone that seemed to be the same as Ami's. Her crown, one of the most elegant among the Royal Courts of the Silver Millennium, held the sigil of Sunrise Bay framed by a pair of rare and expensive fire opals from her home world. Her two sisters, though young, were dressed in beautifully fitted matching pink gowns, the style modest though elegant, each wearing the necklace of her inherited temple. The twins both had silvery blonde hair, the lightest shade ever seen among the Venusian Royal Family, though Fuji'iro had lavender eyes and Gin'iro had silver. The Venusian royal family was not accompanied by any attached royals, the high nobility of Sol's second planet much more loosely organized than that of the first.

"We now welcome the children of Ares to the stage, beginning with the Royal Family of Mars. First, welcome His Majesty King Akaneiro, High General of the Martian Military, High Priest of the Twin Moon Temple, and Champion of the Ganymede Invitational Tournament in 8948. He is accompanied by High Princess Rei, Priestess of the Twin Moon Temple, a Seer of the Blade of Ares Priestess Circle, and Commander of the Royal Guard. He is also joined by High Prince Kazan who holds the rank of Lieutenant Commander in the Martian Military and Princess Momoiro who holds the rank of Lesser Priestess in Service to Deimos of the Twin Moon Temple." The king, his curly indigo hair more common among the people of Jupiter, Neptune, or Mercury than the members of his wife's planet, had chosen a suit of muted red with black trim, the color only a few shades darker than his sunset-red eyes. His son had dressed to match, but Kazan's red and black hair matched the suit rather than contrasting with it, though his red eyes were far darker than his father's. The two princesses clearly took after their mother in appearance, the younger with light lavender eyes and pink highlights in her red hair while the older had dark, vibrant purple eyes and crimson hair. Momoiro had chosen to wear pink and red, rejecting her father's dark and militaristic color scheme, but Rei had seemingly abandoned her planet's favorite color completely. Her dress, which whispered across the marble of the stage as she followed her father to the side, was colored in bright orange and vibrant gold, the colors swirling up the skirt like flames, all of the trim pure white with rubies and topazes sparkling in the light. With her bright red hair, the effect was absolutely stunning, but there was a hardness in her purple eyes that served to remind any observers that she was, in fact, a warrior first and foremost, far deadlier than her appearance would suggest. She wore a white leather arm cuff above each elbow and intricate gold pins in her hair, and anyone who had seen her fight on Mars knew that every one of those pins was a weapon and there were knives hidden in her armbands. There was actually a distinct possibility that her simple tiara doubled as a sword. Party or not, Rei would always be prepared for war. The only jewelry she allowed herself was a red stone hanging from a golden chain above her breasts.

"I now introduce Prince Ryuu, brother of Queen Rikuriko and a General in the Martian Military, and his sons Guard-General Ryuuhiko, Duke of Mashiru, and Lieutenant Commander Akida, Lord of Harumeya. They are joined by High Lord Abaraki and High Lady Emika of Deimos, their son Ishida and daughter Karume, and High Lord Jiru and High Lady Kumiza of Phobos and their daughters Miwa, Miho, and Miko." Prince Ryuu stepped onto the stage proudly, leading the others as was his birthright. He very closely resembled his sister, though he kept his red-gold hair military short and his eyes were more red than pink. He had chosen to wear black with red accents, a nod to his planet's patron god who was known to always wear leather and almost always black, and his sons had decided to follow suit. Ryuuhiko, who had both inherited and earned through rite of combat a very large Duchy in northern Mars, had a gentle demeanor and soft gold eyes, traits that probably lulled many opponents into a false sense of security. His curly hair matched his father's in shade and length, and he tended to follow his father's example in matters of war, politics, and decorum. His younger brother, however, had yet to attain a high rank in the Martian Military or Royal Guard, and his clear impatience with the slow progress of his career glinted in his dark red eyes. Akida had always been jealous of his cousins, angry that he was the _second_ son of the Queen's brother, and he was known to be brutal and reckless. His hair was black with red highlights, and he had chosen to wear a suit similar to his uncle's red instead of matching his father's black.

The two High Lords and their wives entered together, holding equal rank in the Martian Court and all hoping to find partners for their children among the high and low nobles of the other seven planets. Abaraki was tall and lean, his wife almost a match for him in height, and he towered over the entire rest of the royal family. His dark gold hair and blue eyes betrayed his distant Venusian ancestry, but his red and orange suit was cut in a traditional Martian style and he wore the Crest of Deimos proudly on his chest. His wife, willowy and slender, looked far more fragile than the typical Martian, and she had chosen to devote most of her time to the Temple rather than to arts of war. Her grandmother had been born on the Moon, and Emika's silver eyes and fine white-gold hair betrayed that ancestry. She had chosen a dress that matched her husband's suit, the colors emphasizing the colorlessness of her hair, but the High Lady clearly enjoyed the fact that she stood out in a crowd of Martians. Her daughter's hair was also colored an unusually light blonde, and Karume's bright orange eyes were also oddly unique among the people of her moon, though not so uncommon among Martians in general. Karume never wore orange, knowing that the color would clash with her eyes, but her white and gold gown suited her perfectly and helped her stand out among her own people. Her brother was shorter than both Karume and their parents, but not by much. Ishida's pride had taken a hit the day Minako arrived on Mars, and he seemed less sure of himself, clad in a dark red and black suit that would help him blend in among the other Martians. As she watched the young lord cross the stage, Rei couldn't help but smirk.

High Lady Kumiza was the true ruler of Phobos, in equal parts by birth, social standing, political connections, and simple force of personality. The woman was only average height, with fairly common orange-gold hair and pink eyes, but the Crest of Phobos on her chest and the strength of her stance defied anyone to think her weak. Her low-cut white dress shone against the black and red backdrop of the Martian Royalty, gold leaves along the hem and starbursts covering the skirt. She wore white leather cuffs on her arms above her elbows that certainly contained knives, heavy golden combs holding her hair out of her eyes, with her husband holding tightly to her left arm. He was taller than her and much stouter, his frame and dark green hair indicating a Jovian ancestry, though his eyes were a pale Venusian blue. His suit was dark blue with forest green patterning, a very odd color combination among the Martians, a choice clearly meant to contrast with his wife's light colors. Their children, slender triplet girls only barely old enough to be entertaining suitors, followed behind their parents, all dressed in pink to match their eyes with gold filigree to match their pale gold hair. All of them wore a minimal amount of jewelry, but since it was their first major public appearance they were clearly expected to make an impression among the eligible young nobles present.

"We now welcome the children of Zeus, beginning with the Jovian Royal Family. Please welcome King Meisha who won the Ganymede Invitational in 8955, followed by High Princess Makoto who won the Ganymede Invitational in 8976, High Prince Ken'nin who won the Ganymede Invitational in 8977, Prince Eiki who won the Ganymede Invitational in 8982, and Prince Saiki who has entered the Ganymede Invitational this year. They are joined by Rinae, High Duchess of Callisto, winner of the Ganymede Invitational in 8980 after taking second place in 8979." Endymion chuckled to himself at the specifics of the Jovian introduction, having learned in that short period of time that the most important title on Jupiter was winner of the Ganymede Invitational, whatever tournament that was.

King Meisha, a native of Neptune, had earned his title after pressure from his wife's people to prove that he was a true warrior despite his pacifist birth. He kept his aqua and green hair cut Jovian-short rather than adopting one of the longer Neptunian styles, but there was still a gentleness in his ice blue eyes that belied his Invitational win. His daughter, however, seemed perfectly Jovian, both in her Amazonian height and the corded muscles of her arms that no amount of silk and lace could hide. Makoto's light green hair was loose around her shoulders, the first time Endymion had seen it in such a feminine style, and she wore a dark green stone on a golden chain around her neck, her dress the same shade of emerald green with blue vines embracing each other across the skirt. She was a beautiful woman, but the glint of steel in her emerald eyes reminded observers that she was very much a warrior, while her height would deter all but the tallest men from approaching her.

Makoto's brothers were even taller than her, Ken'nin taller than most men in the Silver Millennium while Eiki and Saiki were still among the tallest Jovians. All of them shared Makoto's green eyes, though Saiki's were a color that Endymion had heard described as Neptunian Ice Green and his hair was a rich aqua many shades bluer than his father's. Ken'nin's hair was dark blue and green, tied behind his neck in a simple style that was as popular on Jupiter as the military-short was on Mars. Saiki and Eiki also kept their hair long, the youngest prince with his loose wavy locks bouncing on his shoulders proudly announcing his Neptunian heritage. The three princes followed Makoto to the edge of the stage, collectively waiting for the last member of their family to join them.

Rinae was nothing like her cousins, willowy and petite with golden eyes and fine silvery green hair that reached her knees in feathery ringlets and floated on the air behind her. She wore a short-sleeved forest green dress designed to emphasize the tightly corded muscles in her pale slender arms, her skirt fading from opaque dark green velvet to a translucent pale green lace that floated around her deceptively slim legs and laced boots. As Endymion watched the young duchess walk across the stage, knowing that she had won the Ganymede Invitational just like her taller, stronger cousin, the prince heard some of the young nobles behind him whispering about the differences between the two types of Jovian warrior women. Makoto was a classic Amazon, tall and strong with well-defined muscles and an aptitude for war sports, while Rinae was a classic Nymph, petite with an ephemeral beauty and a powerful connection with the forests of their world. Heads were turning throughout the room to watch as the duchess crossed the stage, and the background conversation suddenly turned to her eligibility.

"I am now honored to introduce His Majesty King Otou of Saturn and his daughter High Princess Hotaru, children of the Line of Cronos." There were no other members of the Saturnian delegation with the king and princess, their entire planet on high alert after the first appearance of the Sailor Saturn mark on Hotaru's forehead. Otou was tall and dark with Plutonian black hair and amethyst eyes that could have come from his Plutonian grandmother or Saturnian family, though his skin was too dark for a Saturnian and too light for a Plutonian. His daughter, small for her age, walked beside her black-clad father, having chosen a dark purple and white dress that reached the heeled boots on her little feet. Hotaru's shiny purple-black hair reached her shoulders and her huge amethyst eyes sparkled in the light from the windows in stark contrast to her pale white skin. Endymion looked at her forehead, partially hidden by dark bangs, and wondered where the mark of Saturn was. The other nobles knew that the child princess was dangerous, but none of them actually knew why. Despite that, the atmosphere in the chamber was notably chilled as Hotaru walked across the stage, holding onto her father's large hand.

"Finally, I am honored to introduce the children of Uranus, home of the new husband of High Princess Michiru of Neptune." A subtle murmur of acceptance filled the room, everyone understanding that there had been a recent change of plans for the planetary introductions. Originally, the queens had planned to enter with their courts, but since Shousha had decided to have the queens all cross the stage at the same time, the tiny delegation from Pluto did not contain enough high nobles to warrant any kind of formal introduction without their queen present. The delegation from Uranus would be the last group to enter before the queens themselves, and Michiru would join the party shortly thereafter along with her new husband. The herald stepped forward again and raised his chin, as if mentally steeling himself for the ordeal he was preparing to endure. The Uranian delegation was larger than all of the other groups of nobles put together, and it would be a supreme test of his abilities if the herald could introduce them all correctly.

"We begin by welcoming the War Queens of Uranus, the highest ranked nobles after the royal family. All War Queens carry many titles, and in an effort to avoid prolonging this event, I will simply mention that everyone here tonight has earned the title _Kazemaru_ , _Asachou_ , or both. Our first guest from Uranus is First War Queen Endou Ado and her eldest daughter Haruhi, joined by Second Kimura Sanae and her daughters Naru and Yumi." Ado walked onto the stage with the grace of a forest panther, her steps measured and deliberate as her heeled red boots hit the stage. Uranians did nothing by halves, and they would certainly not pass up the opportunity to show their beauty and strength to a gathering of nobles. Ado's crimson dress highlighted the chestnut tint in her loose, straight brown hair, the corset of her dress covered in dark green filigree that faded as it reached for the hem of the skirt. Her skin was tanned from long days outside in the sun, though free from any wrinkles or blemishes, and her gold and green eyes shone vibrantly as she looked across the crowd. Her daughter, Haruhi, was nearly as tall as her mother, slender but bustier than Ado, and it was said that her beauty, combined with her odd pale gold eyes and curly chestnut hair, had made her a worlds-famous actress. She had chosen a dress of crystal-white with gold trim, letting her shine on the stage as a gem against the group of desert-hardened warriors. Kimura Sanae followed her fellow War Queen, having chosen a dress of sky blue with lapis lazuli gems embroidered into the hem and hundreds of aquamarines adorning her neck and wrists. Her vibrant emerald eyes, common among the women of Titania, contrasted with her strawberry blonde hair, cut short to fall just below her cheeks, the style making her look taller despite her petite stature. Sanae's daughters followed her across the stage, both dressed in various shades of vibrant blue with silver and white accents, both with her emerald eyes though Naru had red hair and Yumi had blonde.

"I now introduce Third War Queen Tahara Hiroko." Hiroko entered the stage alone, her crimson eyes dancing across the crowd as she pushed her Plutonian-black hair over her shoulder and lifted the hem of her light purple dress so she could walk without stepping on the delicate fabric. Her knee-high purple boots had only minimal heels, Hiroko already tall enough without assistance to dwarf the women of most of the other worlds. She had two daughters and four sons, but all of them were too young for Hiroko to be comfortable taking them off-world, so she had simply attended the party alone.

"Please allow me to welcome Fourth War Queen Ono Hikari and three of her children: her heir Ayano, her daughter Chiho, and her son Mochi." Hikari stepped onto the stage, absolutely stunning in a flowing gown of pure white _kilan_ fabric, one of the lightest, softest, and most expensive materials available on the moons of Uranus. It shone in the chandelier light with an odd multi-colored luminescence, the colors shifting as she moved across the stage. Golden threads formed swirling patterns across her flowing skirt and tiny flowers with pale golden pearls decorated her tight bodice. Her white heels added three more inches to her already impressive height, reminding the gathered nobles that Uranian women were just as beautiful as they were deadly. She had chosen to wear her gold-streaked brown hair in loose waves, enhanced by strings of the same pale golden pearls that adorned her dress, a golden cuff on each arm above the elbow and a fine chain around her neck. She let her golden eyes pass above the crowd, making it was clear that she was simply offering the lower nobles the implied courtesy of her attention, though not actually granting them any. She was the highest-born and most heavily titled of the ten War Queens, granddaughter of a queen, and she could not resist the opportunity to remind everyone of that fact.

Ayano was nearly as tall as her mother, though slightly less aristocratic as she glided across the stage. She was not quite so lean, her figure far more obviously feminine, and her dress did everything possible to emphasize her curves. She had chosen a rich fuchsia and red gown with white trim and pink sapphire adornment, three necklaces sitting just above her bust and multiple bracelets on her strong arms. Her hear was darker than her mother's, but her eyes were shades lighter, the same pale gold as the pearls on Hikari's dress. She was the heir to the Fourth War Queen title and a very powerful warrior in her own right, but she enjoyed social gatherings and parties as much as a Neptunian. Her sister, the younger twin Chiho, entered the stage behind her, Takako waiting her turn among the other Lesser War Queens behind the stage. Chiho had Hikari's brown hair and gold eyes and her strength, but Chiho had opted for a rich ochre and black ensemble, wearing far more jewelry than her sisters or mother. Mochi, one of the few men with enough titles and social standing to have joined the Uranian delegation, followed his shorter sisters across the stage, an easy smile on his face. His suit, colored in black and dark blue, was clearly very expensive, a matching cloak flowing behind him as he joined his family. His black hair was slightly longer than a Martian's, nearly long enough to hang in his eyes, and his easy-going demeanor was certain to attract many of the single noble women at the party.

"I now introduce Fifth War Queen Nishina Yuri who won the Ganymede Invitational in 8961, her husband Ryuuji, and her eldest daughter Misako, winner of the Ganymede Invitational in 8981." Yuri was a beautiful woman, bustier than most Uranians with long, wavy dark red hair and soft green hazel eyes most commonly seen in women from Jupiter, though her ancestry would have been obvious from the Ganymede Invitational title that she and her daughter shared. Jovians were obsessed with the tournament, a testament to their unarmed combat prowess, and very few off-worlders ever won. Yuri was an exotic beauty among her own people, her long hair flowing down to her knees in unrestrained waves, her dress colored in vibrant shades of pink and layered to give the effect that she was floating across the stage. She smiled gently at the crowd, no trace of a warrior in her stance or gait, but there was a sharpness in her hazel eyes that betrayed her true nature. Yuri was an assassin, granted the title _Kakushi ken_ at a young age, one of the deadliest of the Uranian warrior classifications, and her husband was a member of the same elite caste. That and his position as the favorite son of the previous Sixth War Queen, Yasuda Mari, granted him a place among the Uranian delegation. Ryuuji was only just taller than his wife, with long, dark blue hair tied behind his neck and bright orange eyes scanning the crowd in an instinctive reaction to the presence of so many people. He wore a suit of simple black and blue, clearly designed to be elegant but not so fancy that he would outshine Yuri, and he carried a sword on his waist, probably his late mother's famous blade. Their daughter, Misako, had inherited her father's blue hair—though hers had streaks of dark red—and her mother's green hazel eyes, giving her a darker, more disarming look than either of her parents could manage. She was quite lovely in her own fashion, but with a more Uranian-lean figure than her mother and less obvious feminine characteristics she could potentially be mistaken for a man. Endymion could hear a few of the lesser nobles from Uranus behind him whispering about Misako, complimenting her feathery, short haircut and lovely sky-blue dress, but wondering why she was not wearing her customary suit. As much as Yuri disliked suits, her daughter despised dresses.

"It is now my pleasure to introduce the newest of the War Queens, born Ono Miki, the youngest daughter of Ono Hikari. She has just recently taken a new family name in accordance with Uranian tradition. Please welcome the Sixth War Queen Kawasaki Miki." The newest War Queen stepped onto the stage proudly, head high as she scanned the room before crossing to join her mother and siblings. She had let her hair loose to cover her bare shoulders, having chosen a daring backless gown that hooked around her neck and flowed down to the floor in uneven layers of blue, aqua, and green. The color and style of the dress were meant to honor the Neptunians she served as a guard for years, the Uranian Fire Opals in her hair and jewelry meant to honor her home planet. She was the youngest of the War Queens at twenty-two and clearly both available and actively seeking a husband, her golden eyes slowly scanning the crowd as she crossed the stage. Miki was lovely, and she would not have any problem finding a partner from Uranus or any of the other planets in the Silver Millennium, but something about her gait hinted that she was not used to wearing dresses and heels. Endymion tilted his head to catch the conversation behind him, noting that the same lesser nobles who had noticed Misako's odd clothing choice were now commenting on Miki's well-known preference for suits. Why were so many of the Uranian women dressing outside their comfort zone tonight? It couldn't be to impress the other worlds since the wild women warriors of the wind never cared to live by other peoples' standards.

Endymion shook his head in wonder as he realized the reason for the wardrobe of the War Queens and their daughters. Shousha still believed that Haruka was a man, but if any of the androgynous Uranian women appeared at the party in suits, the Neptunian queen could well start to question her new son-in-law. The senshi could not allow that until whatever they were planning at last came to fruition. Endymion guessed that Haruka had asked the Uranians, as a gift to their princess, to dress as women regardless of their personal preference. He had no idea how she expected to hide her true nature from Setsuna, however.

"Please join me in welcoming Seventh War Queen Takeda Keiko and her new husband Kenji, the son of First Endou Ado." Takeda Keiko stalked across the stage, gold eyes narrowed against the brilliant light of the banquet hall, dark purple hair held back by a series of jeweled pins. Her black dress seemed to absorb any light around her, opals decorating the trailing hem and plunging bodice, swirls covering the slight bulge of her belly. Keiko was the only pregnant War Queen, as far as Endymion could tell, and her new husband was justifiably proud of the fact. Kenji towered over his new wife, his dark green and black hair tied behind his neck with a simple piece of leather, his black suit studded with emeralds to match his slightly-curled locks. Kenji clearly took after his father, though his gold-flecked green eyes and confident stride had been inherited from Ado. Though the herald was not announcing any titles for the Uranian delegation, Kenji must have already earned quite a few to have been invited.

"Next, we welcome Eighth War Queen Inami Tomoko, her daughters Risa, Teruyo, and Hisano, and her sons Hidemasa and Gyou." Tomoko led her children onto the stage, the only War Queen with Neptunian ancestry hardly looking old enough to have full-grown children, especially since half of her daughters were out commanding her fleet while she was at the party. Her half-smirk, sharp eyes, and confident stride dared the spectators to underestimate her. Tomoko was a warrior, but she had the most arts titles among the War Queens, including the coveted _Asachou_ , and her five children were clearly also more concerned with the arts than war. Her waist-length Neptunian-aqua hair was shot through with shimmering gold, both from her natural color and the chains of turquoise hanging among her wavy locks, though her cerulean eyes were clearly Neptunian. Her dress was cut in a popular Neptunian style with a tight and heavily-jeweled bodice, open back, and light, layered skirts. It was similar enough to Miki's gown for Endymion to wonder if the newest War Queen had borrowed one of Tomoko's gowns for this event. She had chosen to wear white layered with aqua and blue, chains of turquoise, lapis lazuli, and light jade looped in intricate patterns around her waist and arms. Tomoko's gauzy sleeves flowed behind her as she reached the opposite side of the stage and turned, watching as her daughters followed.

Risa, though the oldest of Tomoko's daughters, was still barely old enough to begin searching for a husband, though from the glint in her dark blue eyes she was more than ready. As the daughter of a War Queen, however, she had been commanding parts of the Eighth Fleet for the better part of the last decade. Her dress, a far more moderate Uranian style than the gown her mother had chosen, was colored in sea green and blue, heeled boots clicking on the stage as she crossed to join the War Queen. Risa had pulled her hair into a loose bun, letting some of the dark blue strands frame her face, but something in the tilt of her head indicated that she was more easy-going than her fancy dress and hairstyle would indicate. Her sisters Teruyo and Hisano were twins, only a couple of years younger than Risa, the teenagers wearing matching gowns of pink and gold to complement their light blonde hair and sky-blue eyes, though Teruyo had chosen a set of antique emerald combs to keep her pale locks out of her eyes and Hisano had opted for a jeweled golden net instead.

Hidemasa and Gyou were older than their sisters, both of them accomplished singers and members of the Titanian Arts Society with enough titles to net them highly-ranked wives and guarantee their children high standing in Uranian society. Hidemasa was the taller of the two, his pale skin and upward-slanted eyebrows giving him a more elfin look than his brother, dark navy eyes and dark aqua hair making him one of the most colorful Uranian men at the party. Gyou looked much younger than his brother, his icy green hair and sapphire eyes catching the attention of many of the women at the party and even a few of the men, though he had chosen a very simple navy suit in order to avoid outshining his siblings at the event.

"I am now pleased to introduce Ninth War Queen Murata Ayumi and her second Kira, daughter of the Lord of Metis, newly promoted to Lesser War Queen." Endymion felt himself start in shock at the introduction, knowing instantly that Kira could be nothing less than Ayumi's lover, a woman she was unwilling to leave behind. Ayumi stepped onto the stage with the indifferent confidence common among the War Queens, her bright golden hair hanging down her back in gentle waves, strings of pale yellow and orange topazes enhancing its beauty. Her blue eyes, as much as her incredibly delicate beauty, hinted at her Venusian ancestry, and she had chosen a multi-layered dress of pink and gold from her grandmother's home world for the party. Unlike most of the Uranians, Ayumi wore a great deal of jewelry, sparkling in the light as she crossed the stage and glanced back, waiting for her partner to join her.

Kira looked barely old enough to have a major title at all, though Endymion had already learned that a Uranian had to be at least seventeen to be promoted to Lesser War Queen. Her elfin features and shy smile reminded the young prince of Rinae, though as the daughter of the Lord of Metis it was highly unlikely that Kira shared any ancestry with the High Duchess of Callisto. Her long, silvery green hair reached past her waist, the feathery texture enhanced by the strands of white silk she had woven into it, a series of tiny braids hanging on either side of her face. Kira's emerald eyes followed Ayumi's progress across the stage, the petite half-Jovian lifting her dark blue skirt to avoid stepping on it. Despite her fragile nymph-like appearance, Kira's title of Lesser War Queen hinted at her deadly warrior prowess.

"I am now honored to introduce the final War Queen, Tenth Katayama Sayuri." Sayuri entered alone, the glint in her eyes daring the crowd to question her choice to attend the party without any of her family. She was taller than the average Uranian, her height surprising considering her Mercurian ancestry, though her blue/black hair and dark blue eyes were much more common on the innermost planet than among the people of Uranus. Her dress was a very simple though surprisingly elegant cut from Mercury, the last War Queen only allowing herself a simple necklace and a sapphire at the end of each of the braids hanging on the right side of her face as adornment. Endymion couldn't know it, but each of those braids marked a savage victory that the War Queen had won, two of them from the Asteroid Belt Riots five years earlier and the others from the tournament victories that had granted her the _Kazemaru_ title. She was part of a small, elite guild of warrior-sages from Umbriel, a group associated with the Silent Wind Temple that valued the deep philosophy of battle as much as the practice of it, and they all wore braids to commemorate their victories. Sayuri joined her fellow War Queens on the opposite side of the stage, all ten of the powerful warriors leading their families into the crowd as the herald stepped forward again.

"I now introduce the leaders of the Lesser War Queens, Taichen Laira and Ono Takako. They are joined by their fellow Lesser War Queens Tenru Akae, Yamahi Miru, Seo Yasuko, Saitou Kai, Murata Natako, and Neru Kaori." Laira led the group onto the stage, her long blonde hair held in complex curls by a series of blue-gold combs that seemed to be Mercurian in origin. Her emerald eyes, common among the Uranian nobility, glowed against the pale color of her pink dress, a cocky smile on her face as she looked into the crowd. Endymion followed her gaze, not surprised to find Laira looking toward her lover among the Mercurian delegation, his attention shifting as Takako began her own journey across the raised platform.

Takako looked a great deal like her mother, though her brown hair lacked the brilliant golden highlights that Hikari sported, but her bright gold eyes marked her as a member of the Ono family. She had chosen a dark burgundy dress that hugged her curves and emphasized her stature, golden bracelets spaced along her arms. Tenru Akae looked positively tiny beside her taller comrade, her bright red hair the most vibrant in the group, canary yellow eyes filled with joy at having been invited to such a prestigious event. Yamahi Miru, a distant relative of Endou Ado, had spent most of her childhood on Pluto learning the secret fighting styles of Setsuna's people, and she had chosen to wear the dark colors favored by the people of the outermost planet. Her black and navy dress, covered in patterns of black opals, offset her bright green hair and pale blue eyes, but there was a sharpness in her step that Endymion had not seen among the other Uranians, presumably something Miru had learned during her time on Pluto.

Seo Yasuko, the newest of the five Lesser War Queens, followed Miru confidently, knowing that she belonged on that stage, holding the edge of her gold dress as she completed her journey to the other side. She had chains of diamonds in her short silver hair, her flame colored eyes catching Endymion's from across the room. Saitou Kai, who had been granted command of two additional fleets after showing her honor during the fight for the Sixth seat, did not seem in the least upset that she was still only a Lesser War Queen. Uranians tended to accept defeat by a stronger opponent with equanimity, and Kai's presence among the huge delegation proved that her princess had approved of her conduct during the recent tournament. Kai, her dark green eyes a fairly common shade on Oberon, had pulled her short strawberry-blonde hair back with a pair of Neptunian combs, her dark navy dress covered in light lace and strings of gems like many of the Venusian dresses present in the crowd. Endymion had heard bits and pieces about the fight for the Sixth seat, but it seemed that Kai had decided to offer homage to the two senshi who had defeated her through her wardrobe choice. Natako, the only other challenger for the Sixth seat who had been a Lesser War Queen already, followed Kai across the stage, her rust-red and orange gown contrasting nicely with her pale blonde hair, hazel eyes passing across the crowd nonchalantly as she joined Kai. Neru Kaori, the last of the Lesser War Queens attending the party, hardly looked like a warrior at all. Unlike her fellows, she was actually rather busty, a trait she must have inherited from her Martian ancestors in addition to her long, curly crimson hair. Her orange eyes were also more Martian than Uranian in origin, but she had to be a powerful warrior in order to have been invited to Neptune.

The herald returned to the front of the stage, glancing to the side as he prepared to announce the final group of nobles. The War Queens ruled Uranus, controlling every fleet and all relations between the moons and the planets, but the Duchess Council took care of the economic and internal politics of the Uranian moons. "We now welcome the leader of the Duchess Council, Hibari Kira, and the leader of the Lower Chiefs, Oreji Terume." The final two Uranian women were relatively low ranked in comparison with the Lesser War Queens, but as sitting members of the complex government of their world they were valued members of Haruka's entourage. Kira, who had earned her position by right of birth, had only one war title and two lower arts titles, certainly nothing compared to the ones carried by the War Queens and their children, but since she had been born into a leadership position she had focused more on perfecting the skills she needed to keep the economy and internal politics of Uranus in check. Her long, feathery ice blue hair was a result of her father's Mercurian ancestry, but her emerald eyes were typical Uranian. Kira had chosen a beautiful dress of dark purple that faded to fuchsia along the hem, the entire thing covered in tiny amethyst chips that sparkled in the lights on stage. Terume, much shorter than her counterpart, was also much leaner with a long, angry scar across one cheek reminding the other nobles that she was just as much a warrior as the War Queens. Her dress was simple, probably because she disliked wearing them as much as Haruka, though the orange and red coloration enhanced her pale yellow eyes and dark chestnut hair. As she crossed the stage, the herald glanced into the shadowed wings, nodding at the final Uranian standing there.

"The court of Neptune is honored to welcome His Highness the Royal Consort of the late Queen Kazeko and sire of Her Royal Highness Princess Haruka, Duke Koshu of Pluto, cousin of her Imperial Royal Highness Queen Setsuna." Koshu, though once King of Uranus, had fallen to a position lower than the Duchesses after being deposed, and he seemed far more relaxed in his new position as consort of the late queen than he had ever been as King. The tall man, a simple golden crown sitting atop his dark blonde hair, smiled at the gathered crowd, joy in his green-tinted hazel eyes. His suit of gold and navy, the colors paying homage to his daughter's favored shades, was adorned with only the simplest dark blue stones, a short navy cape flowing behind him as he crossed the stage. The herald, his duty done at last, followed the deposed king and yielded the floor to Queen Shousha's sister, Princess Raya.

Raya was only a few years younger than Shousha, as slender and as beautiful as any Neptunian, and she carried herself as proudly as any queen. Though she herself had inherited almost twenty titles, Raya had chosen not to pass any of them on to her sons and daughter, hoping to spare them the stresses of court life. She wore a small tiara in her long sea green hair, diamonds adorning her long arms and neck as well as clustered on the bodice of her dark blue gown. The rich purple lace along the bottom of her underskirt shimmered in the light where it peeked out, her blue high heels just barely visible every time she took a step. Her ice blue eyes searched the crowd as silence descended, the nobles knowing that the queens themselves would be entering soon, followed by the princess and her new husband.

As soon as silence had taken hold of the room, Raya smiled and opened her arms wide. "Welcome to my niece's twenty-first birthday party and the formal introduction of her new husband. You have been patient during the introductions of the royals and high nobles of the many worlds of the Silver Millennium, and now I have a surprise for you. Please join me in humbly welcoming our most honored guest to Neptune, High Princess Serenity of the Silver Millennium." Raya dropped into a low curtsy as the small blonde princess stepped onto the stage, every royal and noble following her example with the notable exception of the four senshi. Makoto, Rei, Ami and Minako walked back onto the stage and bowed their heads to their princess, knowing that she needed no more show of loyalty from them after all the time they had spent together over the past few weeks.

Endymion glanced up from his kneeling position among the Plutonian delegation, his stormy blue eyes meeting Serenity's pale blue across the room, the prince smiling at his girlfriend. The young princess lifted the hem of her white skirt as her senshi raised their heads, following the four women to the main floor and toward Endymion, hoping that her eagerness was not too apparent. Raya stood as the gathered nobles also rose, many of them clustering around the High Princess and her attendant senshi, eager to meet the woman who would one day rule them. "Princess, you honor us all with your presence."

Serenity, having reached Endymion despite the nobles clustered around her, turned to the Shousha's sister and smiled. "Michiru and her partner are important to me. I am honored to count her among my beloved senshi."

Raya smiled and bowed her head slightly, accepting Serenity's words as she turned back to the crowd. "And now, without any further ado, I welcome the Queens of the Silver Millennium to Neptune." The princess left the stage, knowing that the queens themselves needed no introduction nor would they want to share the spotlight with anyone else.

As the queen of the innermost planet, Amami led the group, wearing a light green dress that would be considered quite daring on her conservative world. The low neckline and tight waist accentuated her slim figure, making her seem taller than her four feet and ten inches. She wore a cluster of gold necklaces, the longest holding a sapphire and emerald heart just above her breasts, a line of sapphires adorning the lacy hem of her skirt where it whispered across the floor. Amami had chosen to wear one of Mercury's oldest crowns, a delicate golden piece set with a large sapphire surrounded by lapis lazuli and turquoise. The colors brought out the blue in her dark hair, the pale color of her dress matching her ice blue eyes, the entire effect quite stunning. She was followed by Asakaze, the Queen of Venus as stunning as the day she had first taken her henshin stick. Her long golden hair rolled down her back in loose barrel curls, strings of yellow and pink topazes woven between the layers of her hair to match the gold and pink silk of her dress. Her tight bodice was heavy with gems, a common style on Venus, and her skirt was covered in intricate embroidery and diamonds to match the diamonds in her heavy golden crown. She turned her head as she crossed the stage, smiling as Rikuriko emerged from the shadows behind her.

Asakaze's longtime lover was dressed in a beautiful dark red gown with golden accents, rubies in her jewelry and hair to match the ones in her ancient crown. Unlike Asakaze, Rikuriko had chosen to pile her red and gold hair on top of her head, accentuating her long neck and slim figure, a simple golden chain around her neck. Her high heels added a good three inches to her height, as if she didn't already tower over her blonde partner, and there was nothing but confidence in her posture. She glanced out into the crowd, smiling as her pink eyes met her daughter's amethyst, both women bowing their heads briefly before the queen finished her trek across the stage. _"You're planning something for tonight, aren't you?"_

Rei made no outward response to her mother's telepathic question, but the three senshi standing near her could sense her attention shift. _"We are. Can you keep Shousha and Setsuna busy after the party is over?"_

Rikuriko looked up sharply at the question, quickly refocusing her gaze to Meika as the Queen of Jupiter stepped onto the stage. _"It won't be easy. I'll figure it out."_ The tall Jovian queen crossed through the spotlight quickly, unwilling to be the center of attention for any longer than required, her thick green hair pulled into a beaded braid and pinned under one of the heaviest golden crowns her planet had to offer. She rarely wore jewelry, but her servants had convinced her to accept a necklace and bracelet of emeralds to match the dark green gems in her crown, a few of the beautiful stones decorating her short-heeled boots. The Amazon was easily the bustiest of the queens, though she normally wore a tight corset to keep her breasts out of the way when she fought, and the dress she had chosen did a very good job of showing off her best attribute. Yumemi followed the Inner Queens, having chosen a vibrant silver and white dress in contrast with her dark purple hair and nearly-black eyes. She was worried, her daughter's impending rise as Sailor Saturn weighing on her heart, but Yumemi was determined to be in a good mood for Michiru's party.

Shousha entered with Setsuna, the two making a striking pair. Setsuna's dark blue dress, whispering along the marble floor, was one of the lightest shades she had ever worn, while Shousha's light blue and silver was one of the most exquisite and daring gowns she had exhibited since the death of her lover two decades earlier. The contrast between the two colors combined with the beauty of their ancient crowns served as a magnificent finale to the parade of royals and as a symbol of the interchangeable nature of their two planets. With Neptune currently occupying the unenviable position of ninth planet, such solidarity between the outer queens was appreciated. Setsuna let Shousha lead her off the stage, the dark queen glancing over her shoulder into the shadowed antechamber she had left. Shousha's daughter and her husband had not been waiting in the back with the other royals, something to do with the new prince's tunic not fitting perfectly, but Michiru's lady-in-waiting had assured the queens that the princess and her partner would be along presently.

"This is quite the event, Shousha," Asakaze murmured, joining the outer queens as a servant approached with a tray of wine. Asakaze took one gratefully, sipping the pale blue alcohol with an appreciative smile. " _Loq'hibar_ Blue, 8930; a perfect choice. This was a very good year, especially in the Sunset Hills."

"The Blue is from the Leaf Dance Winery in the Sunset Hills," Shousha confirmed, sipping the translucent wine herself. It was a very sweet wine with an odd almost-sour aftertaste, though on Venus it was rarely ranked among the sweetest varieties. "Your mother gifted a dozen or so bottles to my mother when they were the same age as our daughters are now, and I have been saving them for a special occasion. I also have some '48 Midnight Red, '57 Leafwhisper White, and possibly one very old bottle of Black Hole at the bar."

Rei scrunched her nose at the last one, having taken a flute of the Martian Soul Burn before joining the queens. "I have never likes the Plutonian wines very much, especially the Black Hole variety. It's far too heavy and thick."

"That's because you Inners never let it age long enough," Setsuna countered, having already gestured for a servant to bring her a glass of the Plutonian wine in question. "It sweetens with age and loses that syrupy aftertaste that plagues the young wine, and it does manage to develop the most interesting nutty bouquet after a hundred or so years."

"Who waits a hundred years for wine to age?"

"Plutonians," Amami answered matter-of-factly, grinning at her lover's irritated glare. "They do not drink young alcohols, that's for sure."

Setsuna smirked as the servant returned with a glass of her favorite wine, the dark liquid seemingly absorbing all light around it. "Anything worth drinking is worth waiting for. This particular vintage was a gift from my mother to yours the year I was born, was it not, Shousha?" The dark queen sipped from her glass, smiling at the nutty taste.

Shousha nodded, her teal eyes flicking to Rei and Minako before returning to Setsuna. The Plutonian queen had revealed her age to her fellow senshi more than four decades earlier, but clearly she had also recently told the younger senshi that she was more than a hundred years old. "It was indeed. How does it taste?"

"Wonderful. This is one of the finest vintages my world has ever created." Setsuna's eyes strayed to Ami and Makoto standing with Serenity and Endymion near the back wall, glad that the young princess was able to see her prince again. They were a good pair, his darkness to balance her light, and Setsuna felt a pang of premonition at the sight. She finished her wine and forced her gaze to move away from the princess, the dark queen freezing at the trio of women she found herself staring at afterwards. The first woman, tallest of the trio, stared at Setsuna with piercing silver-blue eyes, her silver hair mostly hidden under a dark blue cloak. On her right side stood a smaller woman with curly blonde hair and vibrant pink eyes, the worry in her stance echoed within those pale depths. Beside her stood a woman too beautiful to be mortal, her long golden hair hidden under a crimson hood and her pale blue eyes dancing furtively through the crowd as she pulled the edge of her hood to cover the side of her face. She could scarcely hope not to be recognized by her people, since Aphrodite was one of the most active gods, but no one seemed to have noticed her so far. Psyche caught Setsuna's eye with her own, taking a single step forward as she touched Artemis's sleeve and nodded toward the cluster of queens. Setsuna handed her empty glass back to the hovering servant, swallowing the ice that had suddenly caught in her throat. "Shou, I have to go."

"What do you mean? Setsuna, my daughter has not even been announced yet."

Setsuna turned to her fellow queens, a trapped look on her face. "My cousins are here and need to speak to me. They would not come if their mission was not desperate."

"What cousins? Your mother had no siblings." Asakaze turned to follow Setsuna's gaze, gasping in shock as she recognized her goddess. "Your . . . Setsuna!"

"They would not come if it was not important," Setsuna repeated, knowing that she had to join the goddesses before anyone else recognized them. "I will return as soon as I can, or I will meet you all in Shousha's private meeting chambers afterwards." With that, she left, striding away from the cluster of queens toward a small door that led to one of the balconies overlooking the ocean below. The three robed goddesses turned to follow her, silently slipping through the crowd and vanishing outside.

Shousha shook her head in wonder at the abrupt departure of her fellow Outer Queen, knowing that the appearance of the three goddesses in the middle of such a gathering could portend a most calamitous event. "Setsuna rarely meets with her divine family while she is mortal. I hope that nothing terrible is going on."

"Setsuna will take care of it," Minako assured the Neptunian queen, assuming the mantle of leadership she had inherited as Sailor Venus. "Michiru and Rukaze will be introduced in a few moments and I don't want to ruin their big day worrying about what troubles the gods." Rei raised one eyebrow at her lover's words, knowing that the blonde was just as concerned as Setsuna but determined not to show it.

Shousha nodded and turned to the stage as a single trumpet sounded, the vibrant tone announcing the arrival of the princess and her new prince. Silence swept through the room of vibrant nobles, all eyes turning toward the stage as Raya took her place before them once more. "And now, without any further ado, join me in welcoming my niece, the High Princess Michiru Neptune, Grand Duchess of Triton, future Empress of the Shepherd Moons, and Honorable High Priestess of the Temples of Art on Galatea." Michiru entered the stage on the last word, her stance perfect and her head held high. Her gown of vibrant cerulean blue flowed behind her in gentle waves, pale blue lace along the edges of her voluptuous sleeves, and aquamarines decorated the myriad designs embroidered in sapphire thread from the top of her bodice to the flowing hem of her skirt. She wore a bracelet on each wrist, a jeweled ring bearing the symbol of Neptune on her right hand and two of her own smaller stones on her left. Her necklaces matched the blues of her dress perfectly, three of them from the princess's Crown Jewels collection and the fourth the Neptunian keystone itself. Her aqua hair hung down her back in gentle waves, a style her mother would never have approved, but the intricate crown on her head more than made up for any perceived lapse in protocol with regard to her hair style.

Michiru was one of the most beautiful women in the Silver Millennium, but she had never before appeared in public. Whispers of awe filled the room as she stopped and turned to face the darkened right wing, her hand held out in supplication. She paused in that position, the slightest of smiles lighting her face as a tall blonde slipped out of the shadows to join her. The court had never before met Haruka, whom they knew as Ono Hikari's son Rukaze, but from the breathless shocked silence that suddenly gripped the enormous room, it was clear that the royals and highest nobles of the Silver Millennium were suitably impressed with the future king of Neptune. Haruka herself, either not noticing the awe or not caring, crossed the stage with a long gait that was unhurried yet somehow still regal, her black boots silent against the marble as she joined her wife. Her blonde hair had resisted any and all attempts at styling, though her white and navy suit had been expertly tailored to hide any hint of a feminine figure. The beautiful golden embroidery covering the cloth, which had earlier annoyed the young princess, clearly no longer bothered her once she had been provided a suitable warrior's corset. Her pants matched the navy color of her under-tunic, the white fabric of the outer tunic glowing in the lights of the hall. She had been given one of the lesser royal crowns to wear, the one worn by young Tsuyu during his betrothal to Princess Shousha, before their marriage and coronation. It was smaller than Michiru's, the gold set with opals and aquamarines, but it fit Haruka's face and form perfectly. She reached out to take Michiru's hand, smiling at her wife as the pair turned to face the silent crowd.

"Welcome to this celebration of my recent marriage and the day of my birth," Michiru greeted, smiling as the silence erupted into cheers. "I know you have been welcomed many times already tonight, but I heartily thank you for joining us today." She offered the gathered nobles a perfect curtsy, Haruka bowing at her side. The nobles bowed and curtsied back, moving forward to meet the princess's blonde partner as the two descended to the floor. Shousha and the other queens waited in the back of the room with the cluster of princesses, letting the other nobles offer their congratulations first.

"Your daughter will be a great queen someday, Shou," Asakaze murmured, watching as the Neptunian princess greeted each and every well-wisher, despite the slightly strained look on her wife's face. "The people will love her."

"I know. She has always been the perfect and most obedient child, though at times she does like to contradict me. Now that she is married, I feel much more confident in her ability to one day be queen." Shousha sipped her wine as her daughter approached, smiling at the aqua-haired princess.

Haruka glanced around the room, her emerald eyes brilliant in the light from overhead as she searched in vain for Setsuna. Michiru glanced up from greeting the Lord of Proteus, a question in her sapphire eyes at the turbulence of her wife's thoughts. "Setsuna is not here," Haruka murmured, nodding at her fellow princesses as they approached them through the crowd. "I suppose Minako's appeal to her goddess worked."

Michiru declined to answer, but she was secretly pleased that their plan to temporarily remove Setsuna from the party had worked. They would never have been able to hide Haruka's double identity from the Plutonian, so Ami had devised a way to prey on Setsuna's fear about the activities of the Cupids in order to keep her away during the presentation. The pair reached the group of queens and princesses at last, Michiru offering her mother a brief curtsy as Haruka bowed.

"Allow me to introduce you all to my new son-in-law," Shousha began, smiling at her fellow queens. Asakaze flinched slightly at the words, but she had hidden her own relationship with Rikuriko for so long that she knew how to control her reaction. Minako looked up and met her mother's gaze, almost daring the older Venusian to give away their secret, her sharp blue eyes skewering her mother. Pink eyes closed in recognition of the silent message as Amami stepped forward to greet the new member of the Neptunian Royal Court.

"Rukaze, we are honored to meet you. Your mother was a very close friend of ours, especially during the fighting on Pluto, and I can see her strength in you."

"Thank you, Majesty," Haruka replied, her voice as deep as it had ever been. "It is an honor to be included among the royalty of the Silver Millennium." The princesses and queens could sense the truth of her statement, the feeling that Haruka had been nearly abandoned by the royal houses as a child and was now finally becoming a true princess of the Silver Millennium. Michiru smiled as she took her wife's hand and offered the Uranian whatever support she needed.

"Well, now that you two have joined us, it is time for the main banquet." Shousha glanced toward one of the servants standing along the edge of the room, indicating that it was time for the herald to call the nobles into the dining hall. Haruka glanced at Minako as the nobles began to file out of the room, silently thanking the younger princess for getting the Plutonian queen out of the party. Minako grinned and nodded, joining her mother and siblings at the head of the Venusian procession.

* * *

"Artemis?"

The silver goddess touched Setsuna's arm as the four women vanished, reappearing in the Moon Temple on Mount Olympus, seated high above the lush forests with a view of most of the godly domain. Mirrors filled the marble building, each of them able to look into the mortal realms and observe the goddess's subjects. "Do you see?"

Setsuna shook her head, staring at the nearest mirror as it flipped from one scene to the other, pointing at buildings and open spaces that seemed incredibly familiar. "What are we looking at, cousin?"

"My son is missing," Psyche replied, the remnants of tears in her voice. However she discovered the unexpected loss of Tranquility, she had clearly cried for some time over the information before informing her mother and cousin. "He has not been visible to me for hours, and I do not know how long he has been gone."

"How did you discover that he was missing?" Setsuna placed her palm on the edge of the large mirror before the group, forcing the scene to change to the large temple on the Moon where she had spoken with Tranquility a month earlier. "The temple is nearly abandoned. I cannot see any Cupids or even their apostles. There is no one left except for the lowliest priests."

"One of my subjects offered a prayer to me earlier today," Aphrodite replied, running her fingers through her hair in a gesture somewhere between irritation and exasperation. "She asked me to restore the Cupids to their traditional roles, and I could not find any. When I called for Tranquility, he did not answer. Psyche knew the instant that her son did not respond, and we came here to use Artemis's mirrors in the hopes that we could locate him."

"I saw him a month ago," Setsuna murmured, narrowing her garnet eyes. Though she had been born into a mortal form, she was still a goddess and could process information far faster than a mortal. She sped up the scenes on the mirror, determined to find at least one Cupid or their leader, wondering what had happened to the flights of Cupids that had been assigned throughout the Silver Millennium to help search for the coming darkness. "How long has it been since he contacted you?"

"He doesn't speak to me much since Serenity's death," Psyche murmured, staring at her feet, golden hair falling to cover her face. When her daughter died, the young goddess had retreated into her palace on the lower flanks of Mount Olympus and refused to interact with any members of her divine family. Once she finally emerged from her self-imposed exile, her son was too angry at her to respond to her overtures. Se was the only god who spoke to Tranquility on a regular basis, and even their relationship was incredibly strained.

Setsuna nodded, crimson eyes scanning through hundreds of images of empty Cupid temples and gathering places, finally realizing what she was missing. "Earth," the Queen of Pluto murmured, forcing the multitude of mirrors to focus on the primitive world. She finally located the primary Temple of Serenity on Earth, a frown marring her features as the interior of the large building was also eerily empty. Summoning every ounce of the power she had inherited from her father, Setsuna _called_ for Tranquility through the main statue of Serenity in the Earth temple.

Hundreds of mirrors flared with a golden light before going dark, the golden-haired leader of the Cupids appearing in Artemis's temple at last, a hint of anger in his stance. Tranquility caught his mother's eye and sighed, relaxing as Setsuna stepped forward to place a hand on his shoulder. "They were worried about you."

"Se, I thought you avoided visiting Olympus during your mortal lives." Tranquility ignored the implied question, instead trying to divert attention away from his recent absence from the divine realm.

"Why did you answer my summons after ignoring my cousins?" Setsuna's tone did not allow for further dissembling, Psyche stepping forward to embrace her wayward son as he finally relaxed.

"I've been busy, Se. My Cupids are training, increasing their powers, in the hopes of fighting this coming darkness. I was disappointed when I found that we were not capable of finding the source of your time knot dilemma, but I know that we will be of help to you when the time comes to prevent the destruction of the Silver Millennium."

Aphrodite and Artemis exchanged a charged look, neither one of them truly believing the godling but neither entirely sure why. Setsuna noticed the agitation in her old friend's voice, something telling her that he was hiding the truth from the gods. Her garnet eyes flicked to the still-dark mirrors, a nagging fear taking up residence in the back of her mind. "Where are they training, Tran? I haven't seen them around recently."

"Earth," he replied readily, most certainly telling the truth. There would be no point in lying about something like that. "We have a new priestess who is quite promising, and she has rallied more humans behind our cause than we have ever had before. I have such hope that we can begin to unravel the mystery of Ren's death now that our movement is finally growing in popularity."

"Why have you hidden this from us?" Artemis's tone was harsh and uncompromising, her disapproval of the Temples of Serenity evident in her soft voice. She was among the gods that did not approve of Tranquility's obsession with his sister, despite the fact that all of Olympus mourned her loss. She always referred to the Cupids by their original name, the one they were known by before the first Temple was built on the Moon over six thousand years earlier, the Cult of the Broken Wing.

Tranquility turned slightly to face his great-aunt, his golden wing rustling irritably. "It's not like most of you would approve, least of all you, dearest aunt. You and Apollo voted against letting me grant my Cupids powers that would let them help me in my search, and I highly doubt that you are terribly impressed that I have recently found a powerful and charismatic new priestess who can bring thousands of new worshippers into the fold."

Artemis sighed and fingered her bowstring, silvery-blue eyes distant. "Tran, you know that we do not begrudge you your worshipers. As gods, we all need the power granted to us by our followers and we expand our temples and congregations as often as possible. I just worry that your Cupids will become too powerful for you to control. They have the potential to destroy so much that we have built over the past ten thousand years."

"I would never lose control of them," Tranquility assured her, his wings dropping in supplication. He truly believed what he was saying, and Setsuna let herself relax at last. "I just want my sister back."

"I want her back, too," Setsuna whispered, resting her free hand on the surface of a nearby mirror; "but at some point we must all face the reality that she is gone. She will not return until we truly need her. That's what she said to me, at the end."

"She wants us to find her! She wants us to bring her back!"

"Tran, she doesn't! Nothing in her final words to me indicated that she would return of anything other than her own volition. I can't waste my life hoping for a miracle and neither should you." She felt the heaviness in her heart as she admitted something that she had begun to fear over the last three thousand years, but saying the words brought the truth home to her. Setsuna no longer believed that she would ever see Serenity again, and she was, for the first time in her life, ready to let her first love go. Psyche, who could never let herself lose hope that Serenity would one day return, gasped in shock at the change she sensed in the younger goddess, but Aphrodite and Artemis watched the exchange in silence. Most of the gods had been able to accept that Serenity was gone, dead even as Cronos was dead, and they no longer actively mourned her.

Tranquility squared his shoulders and stood up taller, fury in his golden eyes. "You may no longer love her," he whispered, "but I always will. No one was there when she died except you, and none of us have your power of prophecy, but I _know_ that Serenity wants to return to us. Nothing you can say will convince me otherwise."

"Tranquility, Serenity is dead. Let her go before your obsession destroys everything she helped to create!"

"Never! If you refuse to help me find my sister, then you are as much my enemy as those who call us the _Cult of the Broken Wing_! I will find her no matter the cost!" With that final desperate affirmation, Tranquility vanished in a shower of golden feathers, Setsuna collapsing against the nearest darkened mirror as her childhood friend deserted her. For the first time in ten thousand years, the godlings who had birthed the nine royal lineages were at odds and unlikely to see eye-to-eye again.

"That's what I'm afraid of," Setsuna whispered, garnet eyes closing against the harsh reality that she no longer believed that Serenity would ever return to her. "Psyche, I'm so sorry. I do hope that she returns eventually, but I cannot build my life around that dream anymore."

"It's not your fault," the goddess whispered, taking Setsuna's hand as Aphrodite wrapped an arm around her cousin and Artemis reached out to cup her cheek in one battle-scarred palm. "Even Eros doubts that our daughter will ever return. I will always believe, but you have a right to move on with your life. I hope Tranquility can move on before his obsession with her destroys us."

"He will see the truth of our concern before this is all over," the dark queen whispered, her eyes distant as she caught a glimpse of the future. "He has to."

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **AN:** next chapter will be concerned with the unlocking of planet crystals.
> 
> Here's where all of the names for the War Queens' family members came from (and some of the descriptions match these actors). Just a note that you may have already guessed, men on Uranus tend to take their wives' names, especially when their wives are heavily titled War Queens:
> 
> Kasahara (Nishina) Ryuuji – sixth longest running actor, only 19 stages behind Anza & Morino Ayako, mostly played villains like Kunzite, Tigers Eye, Chaos, and Prof. Tomoe
> 
> Kotani (Nishina) Misako – second Sailor Mars
> 
> Urai (Takeda neé Endou) Kenji – third longest Tuxedo Kamen, graduated at the end of Mugen Gakuen with Nao and Yuuka
> 
> Honma (Inami) Risa – fifth longest Sailor Mars
> 
> Watanabe (Inami) Teruyo – sixth longest Sailor Pluto
> 
> Akamine (Inami) Hisano – fourth longest Sailor Mercury
> 
> Edo (Inami) Hidemasa – fourth longest Tuxedo Kamen, TK for the entire vampire arc, often referred to as the elf
> 
> Miyamoto (Inami) Gyou – shortest running Tuxedo Kamen


	32. Storms of Larissa

**Chapter 32: Storms of Larissa**

* * *

_March 6, 8983_

* * *

Haruka smiled as she nibbled on the bitter _alyuit_ fruit, a popular dessert on her world though it was not nearly sweet enough for foreigners to enjoy. Michiru had tried the fruit but had not liked it at all, politely declining to try any other Uranian delicacies. Haruka had sampled Venusian, Neptunian, and Lunarian desserts but found most of them too overpowering for her palate. Shousha had watched the newlyweds intensely for the first half of the meal, but as they moved into the third and fourth courses she had begun to pay more attention to her sister queens and allowed herself to ignore the young princesses. Rei, who was only partly listening to the story Minako was relating to Endymion, met Haruka's eyes across the table, dark purple questioning brilliant green. In the back of her mind she felt a pressure followed by a rush of fire and a short series of words in the most common Martian dialect.

_It is almost time._

_How are you doing that?_ Haruka's instinctive response to the mental communication was wild, lacking the precise control that Rei had learned over the years, but the fire senshi heard her.

_This is the link Reiko forged between the senshi of her time. This is the link you need to complete your plan._ Every time Rei spoke, Haruka could feel a brush of fire along her spine, a somewhat more uncomfortable sensation than the cool rushing ocean that filled her when Michiru spoke. She wondered what it felt like when Minako spoke to Rei.

A soft chuckle in the back of her mind reminded her that she was still speaking with the Martian princess. _Light. It was blinding at first, but now that we are more in synch it's more like the first blush of the sun at dawn._

Haruka snorted, smiling when her wife looked up at the noise. _Does that mean yours won't feel like a raging wildfire forever?_

_Only if you can tone down the hurricane-force winds and learn to either project clear images or stop speaking that muddled Sol Standard/High Mirandan that you apparently think in._

_Ruka?_

Haruka turned her attention back to her wife, smiling as she kissed the Neptunian's hand. She felt Rei's fire fade from the back of her mind, leaving the Uranian in peace with her wife. _Rei wants us to take our leave of your mother's party._

_We can't leave until she does. It's Neptunian custom that the highest ranked noble must leave the party first or we will risk a major planetary incident. The last thing we need is for my people to think their future king is socially inept._

_Their future king is a queen,_ Haruka returned, turning her eyes back to her plate and the last of her dessert. _Do you hear me speaking in Mirandan?_

_No. I just . . ._ know _what you are saying. It's more like images and feelings._

Haruka nodded, glad that there was something different about the bond she shared with her wife and the one she shared with the other senshi.

Suddenly, the movement so unexpected that the table lapsed into an awkward silence, Shousha stood from her chair, smiling across the ten dining tables as she raised her arms. "I wanted to take a moment to thank all of you for coming to my daughter's birthday celebration and welcoming her new husband into the Neptunian Royal Court. My fellow queens and I have not spent much time together over the past two decades so we will retire for now. I leave you in the capable care of my daughter." Shousha stepped away from the table, smiling as the other nobles stood and bowed as she led the queens out of the dining hall.

Michiru smiled as all attention turned toward her, reaching out and taking Haruka's hand. "My mother was most kind to leave you in my care, but I must admit that I must now, regrettably, take my leave of you, as well. I have a few things to discuss with my fellow senshi before my partner and I . . . retire for the night." Neptunians were incredibly polite and reserved, but their fellows from the other planets were not. As the princesses filed out of the hall, Serenity and Endymion safe within their group, cheers and whistles followed them into the silence of the hallways.

Michiru led the group to her wing of the palace, past the opulent quarters that had been assigned to the royal families and toward her own chambers. She led them into her spacious and rarely used sitting room, waiting until everyone was seated before joining Haruka on the small couch at the head of the circle. Endymion, still not accustomed to being included in the senshi gatherings, sat with one arm around Serenity and watched the proceedings with interest.

"Haruka . . . tell us what we need to do."

The blonde sighed and ran her long fingers through her messy blonde hair, unfastening her heavily embroidered outer tunic and dropping it on the nearest table. "Our past selves had a link, a bond that they could feel across the solar system, a bond that let them share their strongest feelings. That bond, along with the bond with their gods, let the senshi break their planet crystals with nothing more than the intensity of their gods' shared grief. We have to do the opposite."

"We don't have the bond they shared," Ami pointed out, glancing at her Amazon partner. "I mean, I can feel what Makoto feels sometimes, but we can't control it. We can speak to each other telepathically, but I don't do it often."

"The thing is," Rei murmured, amethyst eyes glowing like coals as she met Haruka's eyes once more; "we have done it before. Do you remember Sunrise Bay?" Makoto's chuckle, combined with the blushes on the faces of their shyer senshi sisters, indicated that everyone did. "That's what we have to do again. We need that storm. At the height of our power, at the height of our ecstasy, we will reach for our gods and force them to feel what we feel. That should solidify our bonds with each other and with them and give us the power to unlock the planet crystals."

"We can't do it here," Minako announced, playing with one of her bracelets. "What we did on Venus . . . it only worked because we were alone. If we try to do it here, the very presence of the queens will prevent us from unleashing our full power. We have to be alone, away from them, or Setsuna will know instantly what we are attempting."

". . . _and you must be in that small castle on Larissa on the night of Michiru's birthday,"_ Haruka whispered, repeating the words Uranus said to her the day of the council meeting on Titan. "She knew. We have to go to Larissa; it is the only nearby unoccupied moon and the only place we can go without using our own powers and alerting the queens that we have left the palace."

"Who told you that? And how can we get there without our powers?"

"Uranus told her," Michiru whispered, remembering what she had seen in Haruka's memory that day. "And we will go there the same way we went from the Moon to the Earth. There's a transporter in this wing of the palace that will take us directly to the castle on Larissa at the edge of the Coral Sea. There are plenty of rooms there, even though I never had a chance to show them to you, and we will all have plenty of privacy."

"How do we get there?"

"This is my wing of the palace, Makoto. My servants and guards will look the other way as I lead you to the transporter. They always have."

The senshi nodded as they accepted the plan, none of them feeling ready to unlock their planet crystals but all of them willing to try. "Minako and Rei will lead Serenity and Endymion to Serenity's chambers then retire to their own to change out of their ball gowns into something more suitable for leaving the palace. Makoto and Ami will return to their chambers for the same purpose, then you will all return here in about twenty minutes." Haruka turned the full force of her blazing emerald gaze on the only man in their midst, a hint of threat in her tone. "We are entrusting our princess into your care for the night. We cannot protect her while we attempt to complete this mission, and we do expect you to remember that she is fourteen." There was no disguising the threat evident in her words, and the young prince gulped in fear. He understood the message.

Serenity smiled as she stood from the couch, stepping closer to Haruka and taking the Uranian's hand. "He knows that I'm not ready yet, Haruka. He loves me and he would never take advantage of me like that."

"The customs on Earth are different than ours," Haruka murmured, letting her eyes meet Serenity's light blue ones. "On Earth, women are married off as soon as they are old enough to have children, but in the Silver Millennium we protect our daughters for far longer. I want him to understand the consequences of trying to be with you before we think you're completely ready."

"I love you, my senshi," the princess whispered, standing on her toes and giving the blonde a chaste kiss on her cheek. "Thank you for always protecting me."

"We always will," Minako promised, stepping forward with the three other Inner Senshi to take their princess back to her rooms. Endymion joined them, meeting Haruka's eyes one last time before the door closed behind them, smiling with a warrior's respect at her words. The blonde tilted her head to the side in an approximation of a bow, accepting the Earth prince into their circle at last.

* * *

Setsuna appeared before the double doors that led to Shousha's private meeting room, garnet eyes still pained. She felt like she had lost both a brother and a lover in the same instant, but she could no more undo her words to Tranquility than she could change her feelings toward his sister and her own mortal lover. She had loved Serenity with a god's unending devotion, but she was more mortal now than she cared to admit, and she loved her queen with every shattered part of her own soul. She had finally been able to let her first love go, and she hoped that the golden god could follow her example.

She raised her hand and gestured for one of the guards standing beside the doors to let her in, knowing that they would have been told of her eventual visit. The servant on the right, his eyes never meeting the queen's directly, opened his door halfway, admitting Setsuna before closing it behind her.

Shousha and the other queens lounged around an ornate blue marble table, drinks and candies covering its polished surface. Rikuriko looked up first, smiling at the dark queen as she scooted closer to Asakaze to make room on their wide couch. "How was your meeting with Aphrodite?"

Setsuna sank into the couch, all eyes on her as she sighed and leaned back. "She, Psyche, and Artemis wanted me to help find the reason for the sudden disappearance of the Cupids across the system. I managed to contact Tranquility and he says that the Cupids are still looking for the source of the darkness in the Time Knot. They've gone into seclusion to train in an effort to increase their power so they can find it."

"Where are they training?"

Setsuna shrugged, mentally berating herself for the mortal habit. "He was on Earth with one of his new priestesses, but he did not specifically say that the Cupids were there."

"Is this anything we should be concerned about?"

Setsuna shook her head, smiling in gratitude as Asakaze handed her a flute of Black Hole from the filled glasses waiting on the table. "I do not think there is anything to worry about. Tranquility is determined to find Serenity, but I there is no indication that he or his Cupids are a threat. How was the banquet?" Asakaze, who had asked the question a moment earlier, smirked at the dark queen's obviously forced change of subject.

Shousha seemed willing to let it pass, however. "It was a wonderful event. I'm just sorry that you could not be there. Michiru charmed the entire court and her new husband was quite reserved for a Uranian. If I hadn't seen him challenge me that day that Michiru was dying, I wouldn't believe that he was a relative of Kazeko and Hikari."

"Michiru was dying?"

Shousha nodded. "You told me . . . you told me that I needed to hand over the henshin stick before something happened to her, but I didn't listen. I was on Oberon for Kazeko's remembrance when she managed to force that vision and Rukaze sent me a message that she was dying. It was the first time in two decades that I was able to transform into Sailor Neptune. I teleported home and Rukaze shamed me into handing over the henshin stick, which brought Michiru out of her coma. If it wasn't for him, my daughter would be dead."

"I want to meet him more than ever now," Setsuna murmured, garnet eyes boring into the dark liquid in her glass.

* * *

Haruka stalked down the darkened hall, five senshi following in her wake. Michiru's ladies-in-waiting had managed to have the guards reassigned from the princess's wing for a few hours, giving the senshi the time they needed to get to Larissa. The group entered the transporter chamber without a problem, holding hands as they dematerialized, each of them needing some sort of confirmation that they were not alone in their trepidation.

They appeared in the huge main hall of the Larissa castle, the piano near the wall cloaked in darkness as stars peered in through the blue glass windows. Two nearby shepherd moons were visible above the Coral Sea, all of the senshi taking a moment to admire the beauty outside before turning to face Michiru and Haruka.

"Makoto and Ami, you have the top floor in the west tower, and Rei and Minako will take the east one. Ruka and I have chambers on the second floor in the main wing. We should be far enough away from each other that we don't risk our powers clashing while we attempt this."

"And far enough away that I don't have to hear Rei screaming," Makoto quipped, grinning at the outrage on the fire senshi's face. "What? You know you're loud!"

"Not as loud as Michiru, I can assure you," Haruka chuckled, ignoring her wife's flashing blue eyes. "On that beach at Sunrise Bay, she could have beaten all of you."

"Haruka!"

The blonde Uranian turned to her partner, smiling as she raised Michiru's hand to her lips and kissed it apologetically. "They're going to be too far away to hear you, aren't they?"

"It's a big castle," Michiru demurred, refusing to answer the question directly despite the blush on her cheeks that confirmed her wife's hypothesis.

"What about our powers? What effect will they have on the castle itself?"

"There shouldn't be any damage to the castle itself, Ami, though I can't speak for the resistance of the furniture. Do try to not completely destroy your room."

Rei bristled as all eyed turned toward her, knowing that her powers were the most likely to cause permanent damage to Michiru's retreat but unwilling to allow herself to be the center of attention. "Lightning and winds can destroy just as quickly as fire," she pointed out, taking Minako's hand and heading for the east stairs. "And please try not to flood the lower levels of the palace or we'll be stuck here for days."

Makoto led her lover in the opposite direction, Haruka following Michiru to the stairs in the back of the main hall that led to a bedroom she had yet to see. The sea senshi was silent as they walked, lost in her own turbulent thoughts, but the Uranian was strangely calm. For the first time since she watched Rei's battle with Rikuriko on Mars, Haruka could see the end of their journey. She was ready to wake the planet crystals and set in motion the events that would save the Silver Millennium, and she was no longer worried that they could not do it or that they would be discovered by Shousha before they could complete their mission.

Michiru glanced up at Haruka as she led the blonde into a modest suite, a small vanity against one wall and a huge curtained bed against the other. It looked well-kept, which meant that Michiru's servants regularly visited the small castle, but the siren herself had not slept there in some time. Haruka walked forward and ran her long fingers over the soft, cushioned seafoam blanket and silky pale blue sheets, taking a moment to admire the delicate embroidery along the edges of the blanket that matched the patterns on the gauzy curtains. "You truly believe that this will work." Michiru did not phrase the words as a question, but it was clear that she still entertained doubts.

"Uranus told me that it would," Haruka replied, not quite answering the question. "This is the end of our quest, one way or another, and I doubt the Universe would let us get so far just to deny us at the last." She felt a whisper of fire in the back of her mind and she shuddered, still not used to hearing anyone's thoughts except Michiru's. "It feels like Rei is starting." Her wife shivered at the strange feeling of the growing link that the Martian senshi was forming between the six princesses, reaching out and taking Haruka's hand as a way to fight the strange burning along her synapses.

"Does it always feel like this when she speaks telepathically?"

Haruka nodded, wrapping her arm around Michiru's shoulders and pulling her to the bed. "Just add your own power into the link and it will help to dull hers." Michiru sensed Haruka's wind wrap around Rei's fire in the multi-senshi link, followed by Ami's ice and Makoto's lightning. Michiru's sea and Minako's light were last, but their contributions finally dulled the raging fire in the Neptunian's mind. With the link reduced to a hissing whisper in the back of her mind, Haruka could concentrate on her wife at last. "Rei and Minako will force Aphrodite to lose control of her powers, and every god including Zeus and Poseidon should succumb to her lust. Uranus, though, is too old and too powerful a god to fall prey to Aphrodite's hormones, so I have to be ready to push her as soon as the rest of the gods are over the edge."

"Are you going to be able to do it?" Michiru slipped out of her dress and helped Haruka remove her jacket and tunic, unbinding her breasts and removing her pants.

"Yes," Haruka replied, her voice confident and strong. "I have to be."

* * *

Minako gasped as Rei's hand danced across her breasts, the fire in her lover's touch matched by the one beginning to consume her. She felt her own senshi powers rise to meet her partner's, but she forced the light back, letting it grow inside her. "I'm not sure . . . I'm not sure about this."

"Just hold it until you can't anymore," Rei whispered, amethyst eyes glowing in the dim lights of the room. Fire danced along her arms as she slipped the last of Minako's undergarments off and tossed them on the floor. "Just think about that instant when you realized Aphrodite was standing in front of you, that joy you felt to see your god."

"I'm trying," the blonde gasped, her own blue eyes closed against the pleasure Rei was giving her. The Martian had barely touched her, just removed her clothes and guided her to the bed, but the anticipation was nearly enough to make her lose control.

Rei climbed up beside her partner, cooling her own fire as she reached for the other senshi with her mind, beginning the process of forming a tenuous bond between the six princesses. She waited until the other five princesses joined the link before running her fingers through Minako's silky golden hair. "Think about the battle on Mars, then. Think about that instant when you realized Mother was going to kill me and your soul screamed. Remember that first rush of power when you changed into Sailor Venus and _stopped her_."

Minako nodded as Rei leaned down and gently bit the side of her breast, raising her hands and running her fingers through her partner's fiery hair. "I will never let anyone hurt you, my love."

"And I'll never let your goddess touch you again," the Martian growled, her possessive fury flashing across their link. The light glowing inside Minako began to pulse, reaching out into the divine plane as it searched for the bond every senshi shared with her god. "You're almost there, my love. You need to _push_ her."

* * *

Aphrodite chuckled as she sipped her drink, blue eyes dancing in the starlight blanketing Mount Olympus. "You should have visited Antares with me. You would have loved it there, especially their intriguing fashions."

"Possibly, but I'm not much for parties," Ares replied, leaning against a nearby column as he watched the blonde goddess. The marbled courtyard, a small covered cluster of benches that overlooked Artemis's valley, was one of Aphrodite's favorite places to relax at night. Ares had offered to keep her company after she, Psyche, and Artemis returned from their visit to Neptune. None of them would speak about what happened there, but Ares could sense the residue of Se's power on his lover. Deciding that there was no reason to be subtle, the god of war stepped forward with one hand resting on his sword. "What happened earlier?"

"With what?"

"Aph, don't play with me. I know you were with Se."

The blonde sighed and placed her glass on the bench, standing up to face the taller god. "We lost track of Tranquility, so we went to Setsuna and had her call him."

"It's unusual for our cousin to visit Olympus during her mortal lives."

"It was an emergency . . ." Aphrodite trailed off as she felt a strange warmth on her skin, a kind of prickling light dancing up her arms and across her chest. Her eyes darkened from a pale blue to a nearly sapphire shade as she began to glow a vibrant pink.

"Aph?"

She turned to Ares, a predatory smile spreading across her face as she rose to her full height. The god of war took a step back as Aphrodite's light reached for him, tendrils winding around his arms and pulling him closer. She reached for the straps of her gauzy dress and slipped them off her shoulders, the shimmering fabric pooling at her feet as she walked toward her current and most frequent lover. The God of War froze as the slender blonde goddess reached for him, desperate to maintain control of the situation despite his rapidly growing lust. She smiled and reached for his black leather tunic, loosening the straps and tossing it to the ground.

"Aph, what are you doing?" He cursed the tremor in his voice, hating any weakness in himself or his followers, but at the moment he wanted nothing more than to flee the tiny woman and hide behind the nearest planet.

"I should think that would be quite obvious," the blonde purred, running her pink-tinted nails down the war god's sculpted chest. It was very, very rare for the goddess of love to lose control of her powers, but when she did the entire pantheon responded in kind.

"What's come over you? I haven't seen you like this in millennia."

"Ares, shut up and kiss me."

* * *

Poseidon glared at his monitors, waving his hand at a particularly bad tidal surge on Jupiter, calming the sea before it caused any major damages to the tree-lined village on the shore. Jovians tended to pray to him more than any other non-Neptunian people, the interaction of their moons with their planet causing some of the most violent tidal waves in the Silver Millennium, and Poseidon was perfectly happy to give them a little extra attention. Certain that Jupiter would be fine for a while, the god turned away from his screen and headed for his throne, wondering where his wife had gone.

Later, when he spoke to Aphrodite and asked her what had happened on Olympus that night, he realized that there was no warning. One moment he was walking toward his throne and the next he was standing in front of his wife in their chambers, kissing her like he had been away from her for months instead of an hour. Amphitrite responded to his sudden passion as ardently as she had on their wedding night, removing her dress and his tunic before pulling her husband toward their bed. She never paused as she pushed him onto his back, leaning over him as he arched up into her, never noticing the pink power swirling around them and fueling their lust.

* * *

Thunder split the heavens of Olympus as Zeus and Hera coupled for the first time in centuries, godlings and the lesser Olympians pairing up throughout their realm. Hermes entered Athena's temple without a stitch of clothing on, his curly blonde hair still damp from his morning bath as he searched for the goddess of war. Her owl watched in silence as pink light filled the chamber, pulsing as the gods coupled beneath the stars.

* * *

"It's working," Ami whispered, hissing as Makoto bit her nipple a little harder than she was used to. "I can feel Hermes in the back of my mind for the first time. He's with . . . Mako I can't think when you do that." Her partner chuckled against her stomach as the genius let herself fall deeper into her bond with her god. "He's begun to couple with Athena. I can touch her mind, Mako . . ."

"Don't get lost in your god's lover's thoughts," the Jovian warned as she raised her head, the Mercurian whining at the loss of contact. The green-haired woman purred against Ami's thigh, emerald eyes glowing as she felt her connection with Zeus expand as he coupled with Hera. "This is certainly the oddest feeling ever." Despite her warning to Ami a moment earlier, Makoto could feel both Hera and Zeus within her mind as her powers strengthened in preparation for the storm Haruka had planned.

"It feels right," Ami whispered, pulling Makoto up to kiss her, surprisingly strong for her petite size. "I can feel this new, very fiery bond in the back of my mind that is growing stronger the more Hermes couples with Athena. Can you feel it?"

Makoto nodded as she _reached_ for her god again, pushing him deeper into his lust as Haruka had instructed her to do. "Yes. And now . . . there's a strange bright light mixed in with it."

"Our turn, then," the Mercurian whispered, struggling to join the link that the other senshi were slowly forming. Haruka's instructions had been very clear, but it was getting hard to remember what she was supposed to do with Makoto's hands dancing across her skin. She called on every ounce of self-control her Mercurian ancestry could provide to focus her mind, ignoring Makoto's physical touch and Hermes's mental one, calling on her powers and _pushing_ them into the sleeping moon underneath her. She felt a brief, hard resistance as the moon fought the unwelcome infusion of senshi magicks, but a rush of static electricity filled the room as Makoto added her power to the mix and forced the moon to accept their enhanced power. At the same time, the two of them pressed on the links they shared with their gods, trying to break down the last walls their sleeping planets had built between the inhabitants of Olympus and their mortal charges.

* * *

Haruka cupped Michiru's breast in one hand, rubbing her palm against one nipple as her wife gasped. Michiru raised her hips against Haruka's other arm, desperate for some sort of friction, but the blonde knew that her partner needed more than a quick release. She ignored her siren's needy whimpers as she leaned down to kiss her belly-button, grinning as Michiru's belly twitched at every feather-light touch. Staring at the lightly tanned skin beneath her lips, Haruka felt her heart swell with love and a _need_ so intense that it almost hurt. She could never stand to be separated from her wife and she _loved_ her more than a Uranian would ever admit to. The strength of the emotion almost overwhelmed Haruka, and she raised her gold-emerald eyes to meet Michiru's lust-clouded sapphire, needing to convey her feelings but not entirely sure how.

Michiru, as always, understood without the need for words. Reaching out and tenderly running her fingers through Haruka's hopelessly-messy blonde locks, the Neptunian smiled at her partner. "I know, my only love. I always know." She bucked her hips again, a gentle reminder to her Uranian partner that there was a purpose to their coupling, and Haruka lowered her lips to Michiru's breasts.

Haruka kissed her way back down Michiru's body, reaching her core and slipping her tongue inside, sensing her wife's shock at how quickly she had moved from teasing to pleasure. The sea senshi felt her powers grow, responding to her emotions and to the distress from the moon beneath their feet. Since the other senshi had started first, their powers had irritated the small satellite to the point where it demanded that its senshi protect it from the unnatural elemental onslaught. Opening herself to the life force of Neptune and pulling on the growing link she shared with Poseidon, Michiru poured her power into the moon, listening to the waves beneath the castle slam against the cliff. As Poseidon and Amphitrite coupled, the power flowing from the gods grew, filling the senshi of their world beyond what she could safely contain. Haruka added her wind to the mix, turning the angry sea into a hurricane, Makoto's lightning striking the castle roof as icy rain pounded against the windows. Fire and light chased each other through the clouds and along the ground, somehow avoiding the castle as it coiled around the lightning and danced across the sea. The senshi turned themselves into conduits, taking the power their gods were emitting and sending it into the small moon, knowing that its intense resistance to their elements would help awaken its planet and the other six slumbering solar satellites.

The released elements, feeding on the life force of Larissa, sensed a stronger satellite nearby and reached for it through the link Michiru had formed with Neptune. The gas giant welcomed the power, having been too long without a direct connection with its senshi, and the blue-green clouds of methane that comprised its atmosphere swirled violently as the planet stirred in its sleep. Encouraged by the welcome received on the eighth planet, the wild elements grabbed for Triton, copying the strange storm onto Neptune's largest moon, growing as the senshi's passions flared.

* * *

Shousha stood from her couch, gliding to the window and peering out at the violent storm pounding on the side of her palace. Moments earlier, the night sky had been mostly clear with only a few wispy clouds obscuring the other moons and the stars, but it had quickly devolved into an elemental onslaught not often seen among the Outer Planets. "How odd. I did not know we had a thunderstorm scheduled for tonight."

Asakaze exchanged a charged look with Rikuriko, Meika, and Amami. They knew that their children had caused the sudden hurricane and that Shousha could not be allowed to know the true reason for the elemental upheaval until the senshi finished whatever they were doing. The blonde, still recognized as the leader of the planetary queens, rose to her feet and joined Shousha at the window, shrugging as she gently pulled the Neptunian away. "Certainly you have these freak storms just as we do on Venus, usually during a system update. We had a very strange hurricane over Sunrise Bay within the last few weeks, and there was never an explanation for it in the weather control software."

"Really?" Amami joined Shousha and Asakaze at the window, scrunching her nose in distaste as she closed the curtains. Thankfully, the other queens knew that she disliked storms and would never question her actions. Hopefully Shousha had not noticed the fire and light dancing through the dark clouds, elements that would certainly betray the senshi involvement in the storm. "I must have a team of technicians look into your weather control grid. It's the Hermes 6100, correct?"

"Mine is," Asakaze replied, understanding instantly where her partner queen intended to take the conversation. "Shousha, you have the 6800, don't you?"

"Yes," the queen replied, returning to her couch and taking the wine Yumemi offered her. "The 6100 did not have the extra solar controls that I needed so far from the sun. Kazeko had to have her 6800 completely refurbished twenty-five years ago due to an odd glitch that prevented it from controlling sandstorms."

"I remember," Amami replied absently. "You don't have that problem, however. I will send some techs out to look at yours, as well, Shousha. We don't even manufacture parts for the six-thousand series anymore; it might be time for you to upgrade to the Hermes 9200 Elite Weather Control System that Setsuna uses on Pluto."

The dark queen chuckled and sipped her liquor. "I swear I didn't need the upgrade, but your husband became quite the salesman after your wedding."

Amami smiled and played with the fruit candy in the dish on the table. As the queens' conversation turned to more mundane memories from their youth, Asakaze glanced at the covered window and the storm raging outside and wondered what the senshi were up to.

* * *

Uranus stood at the edge of Artemis's Moon Temple, staring down into the forests blanketing Olympus's flanks, wondering what her lover had chosen to hunt that night. The ancient goddess could sense the residue of Se's presence in the temple and she knew that only the huntress could have brought the senshi to Olympus, though there was no telling why. The wind, which had been a gentle whisper against her skin for most of the Olympian night, suddenly began to gust, pulling at Uranus's golden dress and burning her senses. Narrowing her golden eyes at her rambunctious element, she reached out to calm the air, shocked to find that her powers were being overridden by something else. Correct that, by _someone_ else. As she tried to touch the mind of the woman riling the wind, a blush of heat passed through her, a soft hum vibrating along her bones. Shocked, Uranus glanced out at the temples hugging the lower peaks of Olympus and the ones nestled in the dark forests below the ancient mountain, staring in disbelief at the pink light glowing from Aphrodite's temple and swirling through the trees, reaching for every shrine and building and the unsuspecting gods within.

Uranus had not seen Aphrodite lose control of her powers in more than a thousand years, and never without any sort of provocation. As a Titan, Uranus was immune to the love goddess's lust spell, but it still prickled along the edge of her senses as nearly all of her fellow gods succumbed to the siren's call. Determined to stop the uncontrolled goddess, Uranus raised her hand in preparation to teleport, freezing as a mind brushed against hers. She recognized Haruka's thoughts instantly, wondering why the young senshi was trying to contact her in the middle of the night. She reached back, trying to pinpoint her senshi, recoiling and trying to close her mind as the link between them flared and Haruka's lust slammed against her. She recognized the mind as the one controlling the wind, allowing herself a moment to be amazed that Haruka had enough power to reach Olympus at such a young age. Uranus grunted and fell to the ground as her senshi pushed harder, the power of the entire lust-lost pantheon behind her untrained mind.

The goddess of wind abruptly realized why the gods had been encouraged into this near-orgy across Olympus. Haruka needed their unwitting help and unleashed power to open their link completely, to force Uranus to feel everything she was feeling, even as Nao had been able to. For a moment, Uranus wanted to resist, to keep their bond superficial, but she had missed that closeness with her senshi over the past three thousand years and Haruka carried her daughter's soul, even as Nao had. Closing her eyes, Uranus dropped all of her carefully-constructed defenses and opened her mind, resisting the urge to scream as Haruka's mind joined with hers at last. Everything her senshi had experienced in her short life filled the god's mind, briefly reminding the ancient deity why she rarely let a mortal touch her soul. The memories of the other senshi bled through in bits and pieces, though only a few moments from Michiru's time with Haruka were clear enough for the god to catch. Haruka's lust filled Uranus, a lust far stronger than Aphrodite's power had engendered in the gods, a lust fueled by the desperate power of mortality. Tired of resisting, she found herself responding in kind, more strongly than the younger non-Titan gods, and she called for Artemis through the winds.

The silvery huntress appeared before her lover, eyes wide with the thrill of her recent hunt, her bow in one hand and a long knife in the other, splatters of blood on her white tunic and skirt. She let her wild silvery-blue eyes meet Uranus's glowing gold ones, recognizing the need in her lover's gaze. She dropped her bow and knife, releasing her quiver from her back before dropping her dress and pulling the taller god to her feet. Uranus removed her clothing, as well, grateful that her lover was willing to respond to her need without asking why. The Goddess of the Winds was convinced that Haruka needed her to give in to the lust, though she could not fathom why. Following her huntress to a nearby low couch, Uranus was all too happy to surrender.

* * *

The Mercurians had invented the weather control devices used throughout the solar system, so of course the one on their planet was the most advanced and well-kept of the hundreds of systems they had created. They never expected it to fail, and yet a storm ravaged their capital city as thousands of people scrambled for shelter from the rain, sleet, wind, lightning, light, and fire that had suddenly begun to assault their small world. The communications grid had been knocked out of alignment, preventing them from calling their queen or any of the royals who had attended Michiru's party. Huddled in their homes, they prayed that the storm would tire itself out soon.

Storms filled the Venusian domes and the people watched in silent understanding as a very familiar thunderstorm raged over Sunrise Bay. The Martians, both on the planet itself and on the twin moons, ignored the storm out of principle. They would not acknowledge any enemy they did not intend to fight, and one could not fight a natural phenomenon. They were curious, however, and the communication traffic between the three celestial bodies centered around the fire-laced thunderstorm. They knew that their princess, their beloved senshi, had to be involved, though they had never seen Sailor Mars create such a storm before.

Jovians on all of their moons climbed their trees in order to get closer to the storm, thanking Zeus for the lightning and reveling in the turmoil of the elements. They were never upset at the workings of their moons, worshipping nature in any and all forms, even the most unpredictable and violent. They were excited to see new and unexplained weather patterns, though they intended to ask their senshi for an explanation when she returned.

Saturnians watched in uncomplaining silence as the sky exploded above them, though conversations flying between the moons did wonder at the simultaneous storms. Freak storms were not unknown to them, especially since their world had no patron god and rarely had an active senshi, but there had never been fire in the skies of their moons before and the gas clouds on Saturn had never been that color in their history. Not for the first time since the founding of their kingdom, the people of the sixth planet wished they had a deity of their own, one to whom they could pray to for answers.

The gases that composed Uranus's thick atmosphere began to glow with a brilliant golden radiance, the rocky chunks that composed its diminutive rings glowing with a blue light that shifted from navy to aqua and back. Sandstorms rushed across the surfaces of the inhabited moons, whispering through the streets and screaming against the cliffs as the people celebrated the Goddess's power. The dark clouds overhead only managed a few token sheets of icy rain before the heat of the summer dried the moisture, leaving behind the lightning and fire and the howling of the wind.

The planets began to stir in their sleep, shaking off thousands of years of chains, the worlds desperate to reconnect with their senshi partners. If they managed to break free, if the senshi could pull enough power from their gods to reverse what Nao had done, they would never return to that powerless state of slumber.

Sitting with the queens in the palace on Triton, Setsuna grunted uncomfortably, not sure what was tickling the edge of her senses but determined to find out. She could hear the echoes of a whisper at the edge of her consciousness, and her planet was fidgeting in the back of her mind. Curious, she reached out and touched Pluto, hoping to figure out what was bothering her planet so much.

* * *

Haruka gasped as she was suddenly one with Uranus, feeling Artemis beneath her even as she brought Michiru to a screaming orgasm. The combination of Uranus's lust and Michiru's rush of pleasure pushed Haruka over the edge, golden light cloaking her form. The planet crystals on the table, each sitting beside a keystone, began to glow and sing as aqua light surrounded Michiru, prolonging her orgasm beyond what she would normally experience. The crystals sang louder as the storm outside screamed, each of the planet crystals in the other rooms responding in kind. Haruka shuddered at the echoed pleasure coursing through her, no longer able to tell where Uranus ended and she began, eyes locked with Michiru, knowing that her lover had fully linked to her god, as well.

The power swirling around Haruka suddenly shifted, moving from the Uranian into her lover, exploding in a shower of gold and aqua light as the storm outside suddenly stopped. The six planets cried out at that instant, glowing with the colors of their senshi as a shockwave of multicolored light exploded from each of them and spread toward the outer edge of the solar system. The two women collapsed, their bodies unable to maintain consciousness after sustaining an extended orgasm, and neither one noticed the light glowing in the hearts of the two planet crystals.

* * *

Rei fell to the floor in shock, holding a hand over her heart as she struggled to understand what had just happened. She and Minako had been resting for a just a moment from the stress of pushing Aphrodite to lose control when Haruka finally connected with her goddess. At that moment, as light blossomed in the hearts of their planet crystals, Rei had seen Aphrodite in Minako's blue eyes, and she knew that Ares looked out from her own. No matter what had happened or how, Rei knew that her planet was now awake, whispering in her mind for the first time in thousands of years. Mars was singing with joy, its light pulsing in the red heart of the Fire Dust Crystal. She reached for the glowing stone, amazed to find it warm in her palm as Minako pushed herself into a sitting position and reached for her own regenerated Heart Shock Crystal.

"We did it," Minako whispered, staring at her glowing stone. "And I can hear more than just Venus in my mind. I can sense Aphrodite now even though I was only barely aware of her before. And I can hear the others . . . Ami and Makoto."

"I think Haruka and Michiru passed out," the Martian replied with a grin, rejoining her lover on their bed. "The storm has ended, too."

The two women realized the problem at the same instant, jumping off the bed and grabbing for their clothes. The queens had to know what the senshi had done, and they were most certainly coming.


	33. Wrath of Neptune

**Chapter 33: Wrath of Neptune**

* * *

_March 6, 8983 – Mach 7, 8983_

* * *

Setsuna screamed and fell to the ground, her planet crystal appearing on the floor between her hands, pulsing an angry dark red. Panting, she stared into the striated stone, realizing that its anger was changing into joy and that it had begun to call. "What have they done?" The other queens stared at her in confusion, worried at the horror in the dark queen's voice. They had never heard her so distraught, so helpless and enraged. She shot to her feet and grabbed her crystal, storming forward to face the four Inner Queens. "What have you allowed to happen? I should have known! They traveled between the worlds, _training_ . . . the storm in Sunrise Bay! Minami's Heart Shock Crystal was hidden there, under the care of an ancient tree. The only way for it to be released would be for Makoto to speak with the tree and I thought she would be far too young to do so."

"Setsuna . . ."

"You knew," she hissed, narrowing her eyes at Asakaze, clenching her free fist in an expression of anger so unexpected that the other queens backed away. "Why would you let them go through with it?"

"They found the crystals without our help or permission. By the time we found out, they simply told us that they will do as they want and marry whomever they wish."

"Marry?" Setsuna spun to face Shousha, the only queen confused by the exchange, shock in her crimson eyes. "This man that your daughter married, this Rukaze, what relation is he to the royal line of Uranus?"

"He is the youngest son of Fourth War Queen Ono Hikari," Shousha replied uncertainly, unable to follow Setsuna's frenzied exchange with the other queens.

Setsuna's head fell as she collapsed onto the nearest couch. "Hikari's youngest son's name is Shichiro," she whispered, defeated and utterly at a loss for what to do next; "and he is happily married to one of my duchesses. Your mysterious new prince, Michiru's new husband, is Kazeko's daughter."

"That's not possible," Shousha whispered, fury warring with shock and disbelief in her voice. The other queens' silence confirmed Setsuna's words, and the Queen of Neptune let her anger take control. "The marriage certificate is valid! A Priest of the Silent Wind Temple cannot lie; they take an oath to Uranus at initiation. The marriage license was signed and valid, even including the bloodied ceremonial knife and ribbon."

"Did you read the certificate?" Setsuna's voice was still sharp, demanding, but the furor in her words was slowly fading as she realized the truth of their situation.

Shousha raised her hands in defeat. "You know as well as I that those certificates are written in the ancient language of Umbriel and no one not born on Uranus can read it. The priest assured me that the two of them were legally bound. Marriage between two women of high noble birth is not legal anywhere in the Silver Millennium!"

"There is one place," Setsuna whispered, silently cursing herself for a fool. She had found Tranquility on Earth, on the one world where the rules of the Silver Millennium held no sway, a world whose prince was in contract negotiations for a marriage into the Lunar Royal Line. A prince who could not possibly have met with his princess and not met all of her overprotective senshi, too. "Your daughter married Haruka on Earth. That day . . . when I was with Serenity and I blacked out. The planets stirred because the two of them wed. And now they have awakened the Planet Crystals."

"They did it," Meika whispered, awe in her pale green eyes. "Makoto said that they would, but I never believed . . ."

"You knew?!" Setsuna flew to her feet and rounded on the tall Jovian, fury in her stance. Meika was much taller than Setsuna and a finely trained warrior, but she still shrunk back from the dark queen. "You all know the prophecy! You all know what will happen!"

"Then we will stop it," Shousha hissed, heading for the door and storming into the hall. Shocked at her sudden decision, Setsuna followed, Yuriko and the Inner Queens trailing in her wake. The precession, flanked by four pairs of guards and two confused Chamber servants, entered Michiru's wing of the palace, stopping at her suite just long enough for her personal servants to open the doors and admit the flock of queens.

"Where is she?"

"Forgive us, Majesty, but we do not know. Her Royal Highness High Princess Neptune Michiru has not been here for many hours but we were not included in her plans."

Shousha glared at the young woman, silently cursing the fact that her daughter refused to keep a huge contingent of servants and only trusted a few closed-mouthed women to attend her. "Do you know a list of her favorite places to go when she wants to be alone?"

The young lady shook her head, somehow avoiding her queen's eyes. "She never leaves her wing when she is in the palace."

Shousha silently led the other queens out of the suite, a thoughtful expression on her face. Without a word, she turned down the hallway and marched deeper into the princess's wing, remembering her own tumultuous youth and a Uranian princess she was quite fond of. They reached a darkened corridor with a single room at the end, the door opening to reveal a simple transporter pad. "They went to Larissa."

* * *

The queens moved through the main room of the castle on Larissa, Shousha and Setsuna at the head of the group while the other five followed in silence. The Neptunian led her fellow queens unerringly toward a large bedroom on the second floor, presumably the same one she had used when Kazeko met her for their trysts when they were young. Shousha grabbed the handles of the two doors, flinging them open as the other queens crowded the doorway, hoping to get a glimpse of the reawakened Planet Crystals.

The light fell on the huge curtained bed sitting against the wall, its occupants tangled in the seafoam-colored silken sheets and clearly unconscious. Michiru, her aqua hair spread across her chest in messy waves, barely stirred at the sudden intrusion, but the blonde stretched across her managed to reach consciousness almost instantly, a trait certainly linked to her Uranian warrior heritage. As Shousha and Setsuna stared in shock, the blonde pushed herself off her wife and pulled the blanket to cover the slender princess, more concerned with hiding the Neptunian's nakedness than her own. Without even the pretense of modesty, not that Uranians were known to have any, Haruka slipped out of the bed and stood before the queens, her nipples hardening in the unexpectedly chill air entering the room and her emerald eyes full of power and joy.

Shousha stared at the princess, shock robbing her of both her faculties and the righteous anger that had sustained her since her throne room. Haruka was beautiful, easily a match for her deceased mother, though her breasts were smaller and her entire body more toned. A sound from behind the Uranian broke the Neptunian queen's intense gaze, Michiru waking at last and handing her wife a robe. "When you're quite done ogling my wife," she admonished, a hint of steel in the words. Neptunians were known to be jealous, often with an intensity to rival their Uranian neighbors, and Michiru would not permit even her own mother to see her new wife's body.

Haruka tied the robe as her wife joined her in the light, Michiru having already found something to wear. All of the women turned slightly as pounding echoed from the stairway leading from the main floor to the upper levels, sounds that resolved themselves into four more princesses, all of them suitably dressed and none of them in the least bit repentant. The queens took a moment to examine their daughters, each of them secretly proud of the power in their stance, the unashamed love in their eyes, and the glowing crystals they held. Setsuna looked at them, truly saw them for the first time, and realized that she was no longer looking just at Rei, Minako, Ami, and Makoto, but also at their powerful and beloved former selves. She saw Reiko the Fierce in Rei's sharply intense amethyst eyes, Minami the Gentle shining through Minako's amused but steely half-smile, Mariya the Just in Makoto's battle-ready stance, and Chieko the Strategist in the curious tilt of Ami's head. Turning back to the bedroom, she looked at Michiru and saw Yuuka, her dear friend who had died tragically so many centuries ago, finally letting her eyes meet Haruka's. Staring into those emerald orbs, for the first time she saw an older Uranian Queen staring back at her, one whose mind and body had been scarred in service to the Silver Millennium.

"Nao," she whispered, crimson eyes glowing in the semi-darkness of the blue palace's hallway. Haruka smiled and nodded, waving her hand to call her Planet Crystal to her palm. The senshi exchanged pleased glances as their crystals began to glow, the planets overjoyed to be awake at last. "Do you remember?"

"Yes," Haruka whispered. "I remember. It was my choice—her choice—to seal the planets and you took the blame. Setsuna, it was the right decision at the time and this is the right decision now. You have to trust us to protect this solar system."

Setsuna smiled as she lowered her staff, letting her talisman vanish at last. "I do, Nao. Haruka. I do trust you."

"What is happening here, Setsuna? My daughter has married a Uranian woman, the child who killed my Kazeko, and you are okay with it?!"

"Ruka didn't kill anyone, Mother," Michiru replied, stepping forward to stand in front of her wife. Smiling ruefully, Haruka gently pulled her partner back, silently chiding her for intimating that she needed protection. "Kazeko died in childbirth. It's hardly Haruka's fault. She knew, she always knew, that she would die before meeting her daughter, but that was her part to play. Your love for her would never have been enough to protect Kazeko from her fate."

Haruka stepped forward, her eyes kind as the Space Sword glowed from the table near the bed. She didn't shy away from the fury in Shousha's eyes, instead reaching out to touch the older woman's arm. Her eyes shifted from emerald to blue to gray, returning to emerald as the shorter queen slowly relaxed. "Shousha, my mother loved you more than any Uranian would ever be able to admit. If I lost Michiru, even after sharing my soul with her for such a short time, I do not know how I would survive. You have a strength I admire, but you cannot let your anger rule your life. Shousha, I am Michiru's soul mate, even as you were Kazeko's, and I will never leave her, no matter how much you do not want to accept me."

Minako stepped forward as Shousha stared at Haruka in shock, catching the Neptunian Queen's attention. She stared at the older and taller woman, her ice-blue eyes colder than her friends had ever seen them. "Haruka will not say it, but she is the rightful queen of Uranus and the leader of the Outer Senshi." She paused for a moment, letting the truth of her statement sink in. Uranus always led the Outer Senshi and, in most matters, the Inner Senshi as well. Even Pluto, with her great powers and her goddess soul, would never dare to disobey Sailor Uranus. "Michiru is also Sailor Neptune, and the senshi's voice always overrides her queen's in the odd instances where they are not the same person. Venus accepts and blesses Uranus Haruka's union with Neptune Michiru."

"Mars accepts and blesses this union," Rei murmured, eyes glowing with the strength of her newfound power tempered by the strength she had both inherited and honed through her service as a Commander of the Royal Guard. Rikuriko took a half-step away from her daughter as the memory of their battle for the henshin stick echoed in her mind, instincts warning her to fear this young senshi who had finally grown into a woman.

Shousha turned back to her daughter and the woman Michiru had chosen to marry, seeing Haruka for the first time as the daughter of Kazeko and the rightful Queen of Uranus, seeing her as the leader of the Outer Senshi and the woman who could save the Silver Millennium from the coming darkness. She remembered her daughter, lying near death in her bed, so deep in a vision-induced coma that only her henshin stick could break her out of it, a furious blonde accusing Shousha of being utterly responsible for Michiru's condition. She could see that angry warrior standing before her, now dressed as a woman instead of as a man, so in love with her only daughter that she was willing to risk starting an interstellar war so that they could be together.

Shousha glanced at Setsuna, tearing her eyes from those burning emeralds so close to her, and found a smiling dark goddess whose soft garnet eyes urged her to relent. Shousha had never seen the Plutonian so relaxed, so trusting, and she couldn't stop herself from asking. "Setsuna, what about our laws? Two women cannot be married."

"Three thousand years ago they married each other," Setsuna replied confidently, smiling at her companion queens. "Three thousand years ago they had children and ruled their kingdoms just as well as you do now. The ban on marriage was implemented because we thought that the senshi could not grow strong enough fast enough to resist the darkness that I saw in my vision millennia ago. But looking at them now, seeing their power, I know that they will save us, Shousha." Setsuna waved her hand at Haruka's hand resting on Shousha's arm, desperate to make the Neptunian queen see the truth of her words. "Can't you see it? They are Nao, Yuuka, Minami, Reiko, Mariya, and Chieko from our last great age. They carry souls bred by the gods to lead us in every fearsome war and ensure our great periods of peace. They remember their past lives, something that their predecessors were never able to do without my aid. They have power that I had not dared hope to see again."

Shousha turned back to face Haruka again, dark blue eyes softening somewhat. "When Michiru was dying, giving her the henshin stick was not enough, was it? She was too weak, too far gone to access the power of the planet. You used your henshin stick to force hers to release its full power. You saved my daughter's life by calling me back, by shaming me into giving up the henshin stick and the mirror, and by using your power to help her through her first transformation. Haruka, knowing what my daughter means to you and what you mean to her, how can I refuse to accept you now?"

The queens and princesses visibly relaxed at the words, having known that Shousha's surrender would be the hardest to obtain. Before Haruka and Michiru could step forward to embrace the Neptunian, the glow that had been growing around the Space Sword sitting so peacefully on the table exploded into a shower of golden light. The queens instinctively stepped back from this new threat, gasping in shock as the light faded to reveal their deceased Uranian friend, Kazeko's spirit form more substantial than it had been the night she revealed herself to Haruka. Her hair, as long as it had been when Shousha first met her, danced down her back in loose waves, the symbol of her planet visible on her forehead. The queens and princesses stared at her in shock, even Michiru shaken by the spirit's appearance, though all of them knew, to some extent, that Kazeko had bound herself to the talisman when she died. Only Haruka was calm, having expected her mother to reveal herself at some point after the awakening of Uranus, the Space Sword no longer needing its carrier's life-force to maintain the ghost. A ghost that was significantly more substantial than she had been on the Moon.

"Hello, my beloved."

"Kazeko," Shousha breathed, reaching for the spirit with shaking hands. Kazeko let her fingers twine with Shousha's, rubbing her cheek against the back of her lover's hand. "How are you here?"

"Haruka awoke her Planet Crystal and gave me the strength to take a more solid form. I had to come back to see you, my love." Kazeko's emerald eyes glowed in the dim light of the hallway as she stepped closer to the Neptunian queen. "I have missed you."

Shousha wrapped her arms around the blonde spirit, tears on her cheeks, falling to her knees as every emotion she had held back for the past two decades streamed down her cheeks. Kazeko held her, smiling gently at the Neptunian sobbing into her dress, the other queens and princesses moving away from the pair. Haruka and Michiru gathered their clothes from their room and followed the others down the stairs and back into the main chamber of the palace. Setsuna, smiling secretly to herself, led the group of silent queens and whispering princesses back to the transporter and back to Triton. Haruka, having only loosely pinned her tunic with very little attempt to hide her femininity, touched her hip where her sword normally hung, having left it behind on Larissa to maintain Kazeko's spirit. "Let's go to bed," Haruka murmured, catching Setsuna's eyes as the queens and princesses dispersed to their rooms. The queens returned to their kings, but for the princesses there could be no more hiding. Minako led Rei to her chamber, the golden links of her chain glowing around her waist, and Makoto lifted a weary Ami into her arms, all of them vanishing down the barely-lit hallway toward the royal wing.

Haruka and Michiru stood beside Setsuna until the others had left, the blonde running her long fingers through her hair before speaking. "Do you know how we woke the crystals, Setsuna? Do you know how Nao sealed them?"

The dark queen stared at the pair for a long moment before nodding. "The power of a god's emotions can overwhelm the bond between the planets and the senshi. Once the perfect avatars are born, they will be so closely linked to their patron planets that nothing can break the bond between them. Nao had to force a very strong emotion to accomplish what she did three thousand years ago."

"A strong negative emotion," Haruka replied, tilting her head. "She knew at the time that what she did had to be reversible. She knew that an equally strong emotion would be needed to unlock the chains on the planets, but a strong positive emotion."

"I see that you decided on ecstasy."

Haruka grinned at the wry tone of Setsuna's voice. "Nao knew how to force one emotion upon her god, and that was lust. She learned it by chance and used it to punish Uranus when she slept with someone Nao did not approve of."

"Nao hated when Aphrodite was with Uranus," Setsuna replied. "The bond the senshi shared was very strong, and Minami would tell Nao instantly when her goddess was with anyone other than Ares. Eventually, the constant attacks by her senshi forced her to pick a new lover. Uranus decided to go for the most distant woman in the entire pantheon."

"Nao realized then that she had to be careful which emotions she projected on her god, so she only used their bond sparingly. When she decided that the senshi had to break the bonds with their planets, she knew that she could force a very dark and desperate emotion on Uranus, one that would be powerful enough to lock the planets. And she knew that only Aphrodite's power could unlock those bonds. I connected with her memories on the cliff where I found my crystal, and she told me everything I needed to know."

"You did a very good job, Haruka. The prophecy . . . well, every prophecy is shrouded in mystery, and what I see in the gates is very hard to put into words. For the first time in thousands of years, I have hope that someone can save us from that dark future."

Haruka glanced at her wife, green eyes sparkling. "I'm glad it worked. This power in the back of my mind is so strong and so new that it will take time to master. I think my wife and I will retire for now and see you in the morning."

"Goodnight, Queen Haruka."

* * *

Haruka shot out of bed and raised her hands in a fighting stance before she realized what she was reacting to. A tall golden god with narrowed emerald eyes watched the warrior react in silence, arms crossed over her chest. Haruka lowered her arms, glancing at her sleeping wife before grabbing a robe and nodding toward the outer chamber.

Once they were alone in the meeting chamber of Michiru's quarters, Haruka took a seat on the long couch as her god opted for one of the recliners, staring at each other in hopes that someone would break the silence. Uranus relented first, sighing at her senshi. "I am very proud of you, my child, but I wish you could have found a better way."

"What way would you have preferred?"

Uranus chuckled and ran her fingers through her feathery blonde hair, having freed it from the braids so it would hang mid-way down her back. "I enjoyed the results of your power explosion, but I do not enjoy being controlled."

Haruka shrugged, glancing away from her goddess. "You and I know both know that I am not strong enough to force you into copulation, though what Minako managed with Aphrodite and, through her the rest of the Pantheon, was rather impressive."

Uranus chuckled and leaned back against the couch, enjoying the luxury of the Neptunian princess's suite. "Honestly, it doesn't really take that much to set Aphrodite off, but for a mortal to manage it shows great power and control. I am rather impressed with your senshi sisters after last night's display, I must admit. I am also happy that you made your decision."

"I made the right one," Haruka replied, confidence strengthening her voice. "I have never felt so powerful before. Even my past life . . . Nao never had this much strength at her disposal. It feels like the planets are coming back with a vengeance after being asleep for so long and they will never let us break the planet crystals again. What we did tonight was permanent."

Uranus nodded, running her fingers across the silky material of her dress and changing it from gold to navy. "I was afraid of that. I'm only the patron god of your planet, so I cannot feel it as strongly as you can, but I cannot think of a reason to bind your powers again. I can hear you more loudly than I could ever hear Nao, and I hope that this new link between us does not affect me while I am on Olympus."

"I will endeavor to control myself," Haruka replied dryly, tightening the sash of her navy robe. "How is Artemis?"

"About as tired out as Poseidon's avatar," Uranus returned, flipping her hair dismissively as Michiru had done hundreds of times.

Haruka chuckled at the imitation, running her long fingers through her own tangled locks. "Uranus, what's going to happen now? We still don't know what the darkness is or how to fight it. We barely know enough about our powers to control them when the planets were asleep and I doubt we can manage them any better now."

The goddess rose to her feet, eyes sparkling in the light of Neptune streaming in the window. "Haruka . . . I am so proud of you. I know you can learn to control your powers no matter how great they become. I'll leave you to your prize."

"My prize?"

Uranus chuckled and waved her hand toward the bedroom door. "Your wife, my dearest child. You fought for her against Se's ancient prophecy, against the power of the gods sealing the planets, and against the fears and anger of the Queens themselves. You have won Michiru on every front, and I will leave you to her."

Haruka smiled wryly as her god vanished in a swirl of golden light and a breath of wind, loosening her robe and returning to her wife's bedroom.

* * *

Shousha stirred from the deepest sleep she had enjoyed in two decades, opening her teal eyes to find her lover's glowing spirit resting beside her. Kazeko smiled and ran her fingers across Shousha's cheek, the ghostly touch light but still just as gentle as the Uranian had ever been. "I need to leave now, my beloved. Haruka is waking and should have full access to the power of her talisman and planet."

Shousha pushed herself into a sitting position and realized she was in one of the smaller bedrooms on the second floor of the Larissa palace. She and Kazeko must have ended up there last night while they were talking. "It's good to see you again, my love."

"We will be together again," Kazeko promised as she faded back into the Space Sword, her emerald eyes the last to go. Shousha smiled into the empty room, her soul at peace for the first time in decades, and she knew that Kazeko would be with her in Elysian and the next life beyond. Their love might have ended abruptly with the Uranian's death, but they were soul mates and they would meet again. She kept that thought firmly in her mind as she straightened her dress and headed for the main bed chamber where the Space Sword waited patiently for her to collect it for return to its carrier.

She walked through the empty palace in silence, returning to the transporter and her own palace. Michiru's wing of the palace was nearly empty that early in the morning, and she managed to get down four corridors before reaching a guard. He did not react to her presence, knowing better than to interfere with the queen, but the various servants running between Michiru's chambers and the ones that had been assigned to the other senshi did glance at her curiously when they passed. Shousha ignored them all, returning to her own rooms where she had entertained the other queens the night before, glad to see that her servants had cleaned the mess and returned her meeting chamber to its normal pristine condition. She placed the Uranian talisman carefully on her table, reaching for the straps of her dress.

A pair of olive-skinned hands met hers there, the other woman releasing the straps of the expensive dress and letting it fall to the floor. Three servants appeared by the queen's side and gathered the dress silently, rushing into her bedroom to select an appropriate outfit for their monarch to wear to breakfast. Shousha turned to face Setsuna, smiling at the tall Plutonian. "You were right all along. I never should have blamed the child."

Setsuna grinned and took a seat on Shousha's couch, watching the trio of servants flutter around the queen and prepare her for the day. The dark queen had been reborn over a dozen times, and in that time she had become annoyed with the retinue of servants that seemed to be a requisite part of royalty. She only had one maid to help her dress, and in general the girl only helped her tie her dresses and style her hair. "You were coming to terms with Kazeko's death the only way you knew how. Mortals tend toward blame."

Shousha snorted in amusement, a sound she would never make in polite company. "You act like you have never had mortal emotions. I think you are prone to the same anger we are, with the right trigger."

Setsuna nodded, her crimson eyes nearly black as her power swirled around her. "I do think that you are right," she whispered, her voice as close to a god's as Shousha had ever heard. "I think that if I truly lost my temper I could destroy the Silver Millennium." She paused, tilting her head to the side as she watched the Neptunian queen. "I fear my own power, and it is one reason I am born into mortal form rather than simply assuming this form as most gods would. My anger would destroy the solar system."

Shousha waited until she was fully dressed and her hair was arranged before answering. "I think that you are mortal enough not to let yourself lose your temper to that degree. I know that you love us enough to never destroy what we spent so many generations creating, no matter what happens. And I trust the senshi to protect us from the coming darkness so that you never have a reason to go that far."

"I hope so."

* * *

Haruka took Michiru's arm, emerald eyes apprehensive as she stared at the doors before them. The other four senshi waited behind them, all of them nearly as restless as the Uranian, despite the fact that they had a lot less to reveal at the breakfast that morning. Shousha had to be back, and despite her acceptance the night before, none of the senshi truly believed that she would welcome a daughter-in-law with open arms.

"Ruka, we cannot stand here forever," Michiru chided, tightening her grip on her wife's arm. "Let's go."

The guards standing on either side of the door reached out and pulled them open, not making eye contact with each other or the senshi who strolled past them. The herald who had announced every royal so perfectly at Michiru's birthday celebration stood just inside the double doors, waiting patiently to perform his duty again. He stood straighter as the senshi entered the spacious royal dining room, having already announced the queens and the High Princess of the Moon, and his motion caught the attention of every member of each of the royal courts gathered for Michiru's party.

Silence fell across the room as the herald began to speak. "Allow me to announce Their Highnesses the High Princess Minako of Venus, the High Princess Rei of Mars, the High Princess Makoto of Jupiter, and the High Princess Ami of Mercury. Allow me to also announce High Princess Michiru of Neptune and her wife Queen Haruka of Uranus."

With the exception of the queens, Haruka's true identity was a shock to the room. The silence devolved into whispers and unsettled rumbling until Shousha herself rose to her feet. She had to have been the one to tell the herald Haruka's true identity, though with the Uranian dressed in a feminine-cut corset that secret was pretty much dead anyway. Shousha raised her hand to quiet the last of the noise in the hall, everyone turning to look up toward the dais where she sat with the other queens. "Please join me in welcoming my daughter and her wife to our table. _Come, and be welcome_."

" _Come, and be welcome_ ," the hall echoed, using Neptunian as the queen herself had. It was an old traditional welcome that had not been used that frequently in Shousha's court, but clearly the royals from the various planets had been well-schooled in the correct response.

Haruka smiled and led the princesses to the queen's table, everyone taking a seat near their mothers while Haruka took the empty seat between Michiru and Setsuna, only mildly surprised to find the Space Sword waiting for her. She took her talisman and returned it to her hip, smiling as a pair of servants filled the bowl in front of her with a mild fish soup that was a popular breakfast on Neptune, one she had grown fond of during her time with Michiru. "I see that my mother's spirit had a positive influence on you, Shousha." The other senshi glanced at Haruka in surprise at her familiarity, but the blonde was rightfully the Queen of Uranus and Shousha's equal.

"I'll admit, she did soften my heart a bit," the queen replied, turning back to her own soup. The upper table only held the queens and their heirs, their husbands and other children eating at the middle level above the lower nobles. It would be inappropriate for a man to be seated at the highest table, even the King of Neptune himself, and Haruka herself was only allowed there because her true identity had at last been revealed. It was a holdover from the time of Nao and Yuuka, when they did not have husbands, only Consorts, and when men were rarely involved in any of the upper politics of the Silver Millennium. The upper table was surrounded by a low-level privacy field, so nothing they said would be heard at the tables below unless they raised their voices to override the field. "I cannot say that I truly understand what you are doing or what you plan to do, but I cannot stand in your way any longer. And if my daughter must be married, I cannot think of a better match than a Queen of the Silver Millennium."

"I'm not sure Queen Serenity will accept your reasoning."

"Leave the queen to me," Setsuna returned, grinning slightly as she sipped her soup. "I think I can make her see reason."

The gathered queens chuckled, having some idea how Setsuna planned to go about convincing Queen Serenity. As the conversation turned toward more mundane topics, Haruka accepted that the crisis was over. For the first time in her life, she was part of the royal circle and she was accepted both by her fellow senshi and her fellow queens. She was no longer alone.

* * *

Serenity glared at Setsuna from her dais, the two women alone in her silent throne room. "How did this happen?"

"Pretty much the same way we happened," Setsuna replied smartly, her eyes sparkling with amusement. "They met."

"Setsuna, queens have been meeting their soulmates for three thousand years and nothing like this has ever happened. They may have had a relationship, but none of them ever got married. I thought that was the point of us stressing that prophecy of yours in our royal education programs."

"In an odd turn of events, the six most highly educated senshi of the past three millennia decided to find the true source of that law and challenge it in a most spectacular display of raw power." Setsuna's tone never wavered, her hands folded demurely in front of her gown as she waited for her lover's response.

Serenity rose from her throne, clearly intent on arguing the dark Plutonian's point, but something stopped her. She stared at the dark queen for a long moment, eyes narrowing in confusion. "Se, you're oddly chipper today. I don't think I've ever seen you in this kind of mood. What's changed?"

"Haruka," Setsuna replied, having no better answer. "What she has done, what she has encouraged the others to do, has made me happy. This kind of deep contentment without the weight of the future bowing my shoulders, is a very strange sensation. She figured out how to control the link that she shares with her god, and taught the others how to do the same thing. She fixed what Nao destroyed so long ago, and I can sense that we are standing on the edge of a precipice where one wrong move can plunge us deeper into the darkness that has plagued this kingdom for three millennia or we can rise into the light that your ancestor the first Queen Serenity brought to her people. I have never truly trusted any of the other senshi, but I trust her and I know that she will find the right path to save our people. I loved Nao and her sisters but I never truly saw them as equals. Last night, seeing Haruka standing there defying us, I saw the godling that Uranus knew her daughter would one day become. And I trust her."

Serenity smiled and stepped down to join Setsuna, taking the older queen's hands in her own. "If you think that Haruka and Michiru made the right decision, then I can hardly argue with you. Is she the answer to your time knot?"

"She has to be. She and these young, rebellious senshi will destroy the darkness and ensure a peaceful future for the Silver Millennium. You will never be shattered by the ginzuishou and your daughter will live to marry that Earth prince and take her place as queen one day."

Serenity slipped her arms around Setsuna's waist and rested her head on the taller woman's chest. "And once the threat is gone, we can be together."

"Yes." For the first time since that long-ago ball on one of the moons of Jupiter, Setsuna could see a future with her beloved queen, and Haruka was the key to that future. That rebellious blonde would lead her sister senshi into battle against this mysterious darkness when it finally attacked, and they would win. The dark queen knew that they would.


	34. World Shaking

**Chapter 34: World Shaking**

* * *

_March 17, 8983 – March 18, 8983_

* * *

Haruka had refused to be anywhere near her palace for more than a Solar week. As soon as Hikari's ship had landed on Oberon, the soon-to-be queen had grabbed some of her desert clothing and supplies, shoved them into a small pack, and walked south out of the capital. Some of the deepest, driest scrubland on Oberon stretched for hundreds of miles south, changing to true desert until it hit the Quartz mountains and the sheltered oasis there that supported a huge population of Uranians known as the _Sxarthin,_ Desert Kin. Michiru had watched her wife leave in silence, knowing that Haruka would never survive a palace full of senshi, Queens, and War Queens furiously planning the most elaborate coronation Uranus had ever seen. Traditionally, the War Queens and the princess would gather in the throne room and exchange promises of loyalty before the princess took her crown, but that would prevent any of the hundreds of gathered Uranian and off-world nobles from celebrating Haruka's rise to power. The original intention was for the simple coronation to take place two days after Michiru's birthday, but technically it could take place any time within two weeks of the four-moon conjunction. Michiru had convinced the queens that they wanted an elaborate affair to welcome the new member of their circle, at least as elaborate as the Uranians would allow. Elaborate took time.

"Michiru, do you want to go after her?"

The Neptunian, wearing one of the simplest dresses that Makoto had ever seen, shook her head. She had been deep in thought, listening to the birds in Hikari's garden as she stared off into the distance. "She doesn't need me right now. She needs time alone to come to terms with everything that has happened in the past few weeks."

"She also needs to decide what kind of queen she will become," Hikari added, joining the two princesses on the spacious balcony overlooking her prized gardens. The wind was still, too early in the morning for the desert to be riled up, but the late afternoon sun tended to bring on the more violent weather. "Her mother was not comfortable with the demands of the court, but she never _needed_ to be alone as much as Haruka does. I'm surprised that you understood enough to let her go." Hikari's voice was calm, no trace of accusation in her words, though Michiru knew her well enough not to expect any. Hikari was always impressed when a non-Uranian understood her people so well, especially her beloved queen's new wife.

Michiru was silent for a moment, knowing that Makoto was also eager to hear her answer. "At the breakfast the morning after my birthday, Haruka began to distance herself from us. It was barely noticeable at first, but eventually I realized that she was feeling trapped. Our mission . . . she focused her entire being on it, leaving no room for doubts that we would fail or for concern about the future. Once my mother accepted Haruka into our family and announced her identity to the gathered Royal Courts, my wife had no direction or purpose to drive her anymore. She began to have doubts, and I could not allow that. Haruka is not a person who can be allowed to doubt. She told me that her coronation was to be held on the first day of the conjunction, but I spoke with my mother and asked her to demand a much more elaborate celebration." Michiru giggled, her eyes sparking at the memory. "All of the other queens believed that it was truly her idea, so they capitulated immediately."

"You are Shousha's daughter, of that there is no mistake," Hikari replied wryly. "She was quite the manipulative princess in her youth."

"I think, for the first time in my life, that I can take that as a compliment." She paused, letting that comment hang in the air before speaking again. "I told Haruka that all I could hear in her soul was the scream of the winds of the Golden Expanse on Miranda and I couldn't think through the noise. She understood what I was trying to say, and she left. She told me to bring her back when she was done."

"How will you know?"

Michiru twisted her wrist and held out his planet crystal, a warm light pulsing in the aqua depths. "I will know. My crystal is drawn to hers, lets me hear her thoughts even so far away. It's becoming easier to understand her thoughts, and the images are nearly clear now. As soon as they are, my crystal will take me to her."

Makoto shrugged. "After only a few days in the company of this much titled royalty, I can see why she would want to run."

"So why didn't you?"

"Ami is helping with the coordination. If she didn't have someone to help her relax, she would probably drown all of the planners before we get to the coronation."

Hikari chuckled. "Kazeko's coronation was a fairly simple affair, but she was still going crazy during the preparations. I took her into the desert three days before she received her crown, and it calmed her down considerably. Haruka's _sajink_ is much stronger, so she needs more time." Michiru nodded and returned her gaze to the gardens, tracing patterns on the railing with her perfectly manicured fingernail. Hikari noticed the action, recognizing it as an outlet for nervous energy, and tilted her head. "Something else is on your mind, Highness."

"I've asked you to call me Michiru. There is no reason for us to be so formal, mother of my new husband." Hikari chuckled at the joke, nodding in acceptance of the meaning behind it. "You are correct, however, that I have something on my mind." The War Queen turned to face Michiru and tilted her head, waiting patiently. "How does one get the titles of _Kazemaru_ and _Asachou_?"

"Well, I can't say that was the question I was expecting."

"I know, but I am married to the woman who will in a few days be Queen of Uranus, and your people care about titles more than bloodlines or royalty. How can I hope to be accepted by your people if I never understand this facet of your civilization?"

"You'd be about on par with Koshu," Makoto quipped, grinning as Michiru shot Hikari a _you-see-what-I-mean_ look.

"Well, I guess it would be best to start at the top. _Kazemaru_ is not really a title in and of itself, but more of an aggregate, awarded once a person has achieved a number of other war titles. Most of them have to be titles from Uranus, but a small percentage of them must be accredited titles from other worlds. Pluto, Jupiter, Saturn, and Mars all have a number of approved titles, but there are a few very rare instances where a title from some other world would be acceptable."

"Uranians compete fiercely in the Ganymede Invitational," Makoto added, thinking back to her own tournament so long ago. "Other than Jovians, who take the title more than seventy percent of the time, Uranians dominate entrants from other planets. There are some very prestigious war games on Mars, and a martial arts tournament on Pluto that I have attended but never had the honor of competing in. Hikari, one of your titles is from Pluto, is it not?"

"Yes, it is. I'm surprised that you know. Setsuna invited Kazeko, myself, Rikuriko, and Meika to compete multiple times over the course of a decade in the most prestigious of her martial arts tournaments, and each of us won the title _Dark Sword of Charon_. Haruka is not yet old enough to compete, since contestants must be into their fourth decade to be eligible to receive the invitation."

"How many titles does a person need to become _Kazemaru_?"

"It varies," Hikari replied, turning around and walking across the balcony. Movement sometimes helped her organize her thoughts. "Some titles carry more weight than others, so Champion of the Ganymede Invitational along with any two other off-world titles would be enough to satisfy the non-Uranian part. There are three assassins' guilds on Miranda that certify five titles each, but those are not as well-regarded as the two titles awarded by the Priests of the Silent Wind Temple during the war games that are held in our god's honor twice a year. As a matter of fact, the title _Yamakami_ would be counted toward a _Kazemaru_ consideration and would complete the entire Uranian requirement, whereas prestigious service in the name of the Moon during war would complete the off-world requirement. That is the only way to receive _Kazemaru_ with fewer than four other titles. Kazeko won two titles during the fighting on Pluto decades ago, and all of her sister senshi were similarly honored."

"Are any of the other queens _Kazemaru_?"

"Setsuna is, but none of the others have requested a review, and even the queen of Pluto prefers that we never mention it in public. Your mother and Queen Serenity are both _Asachou_ , however. That title is more common among off-worlders than _Kazemaru_."

"And _Yamakami_?"

Hikari shook her head ruefully. "You princesses are pretty much the only current holders of that title. I promise you that many more of my people will attempt that trek in the next few years in honor of our queen, her sisters, and her wife. They will recognize that title, Michiru, even if you have no other."

"What if I want the other two?"

Hikari reached out and cupped Michiru's face in one long-fingered hand, staring deep into the young princess's blue eyes. Makoto watched them, unsure what the War Queen hoped to see, but a moment later Hikari smiled, apparently satisfied. "I see that you truly do want them, so I will help you. _Asachou_ will be easier, since your prowess in the arts is already well-documented on Neptune, so the only remaining requirement would be for you to perform before at least three War Queens. If they are moved by your expression of _saliis_ , then you will be awarded the title. For _Kazemaru_ , I can tell you that your title of _Yamakami_ and your incredible performance in the choosing of the Sixth War Queen will be enough to cover the domestic titles requirement. You would need at least two off-world titles or an expression of great courage and sacrifice in service to the Moon in order to prove your _sajink_ and be granted this title. I will look at our archives, but I believe that there is a title on Neptune that we have accepted before, and with your mastery of the blood rage, I believe that a championship rank in the Deimos or Phobos War Games would be your best bet for the remainder of the requirement."

"Or an actual war," Makoto murmured, remembering the image she had seen in the Deep Aqua Mirror on Saturn. Hikari had not been privy to that premonition, but the senshi worried about it daily.

"It will not come to that, Makoto," Michiru replied, turning to face her friend and taking her hand. "You need to believe that we will stop this darkness."

"I do," the Jovian replied, green eyes dark. "I just don't know how to stop worrying."

"Perhaps you have not been practicing your fighting skills enough this past week," Hikari replied, one eyebrow raised in a challenge. "All of my children are in town for the coronation, and I believe that three of them are in training for the Ganymede Invitational. They could use a champion's advice."

Makoto grinned, eyes flashing in acceptance. "It's been a while since a Uranian won. Let me see what assistance I can be." She turned to go, Hikari taking two steps before both turned back to Michiru.

"I'll stay here a little longer," the Neptunian replied, having returned to staring out toward the horizon and the desert oasis she could not see. "I think Ruka will be calling soon." The winds in her mind were nearly silent, and she could almost hear the whisper of her wife's thoughts. It was nearly time.

* * *

Haruka stood on the roof of the largest building in the _Sxarthin_ settlement, emerald eyes turned toward the capital. She could feel Michiru's thoughts on her and she had for a week and a half, knowing that it was almost time to return to court and her impending coronation. Her time among the Desert Kin had calmed her soul more than she could have anticipated, and she almost felt like she was finally ready to take her place among her people for the first time in twenty-one years.

"Your time among us is ending." The leader of the desert people, his leathery skin darkened by the sun and dried by the sand, watched his princess with unblinking grey eyes, his protective goggles hanging around his neck and his gloves hooked in his belt. "Have you found your peace, princess?"

Haruka nodded, having learned to speak as little as possible in the past few days. The _Sxarthin_ rarely spoke more than a few words at a time, relying on hand signals and their own instincts about the desert to survive. She wondered if they all had some latent telepathic abilities that allowed them to communicate in a manner akin to the link that the senshi had recently forged. "Michiru is calling."

"More than a week," he replied. He had known, without even needing to ask, what his princess was running from and that she had a wife in the city waiting for her to return. The Desert Kin kept up with current news and had watched the live feed of Michiru's birthday, amused by the deception that their princess had managed to execute so adroitly upon the queen of their sister Outer Planet. "When?"

"Tomorrow morning." It was time to return. The queens planned to have her coronation on the tenth day after the conjunction, and that date was fast approaching. She was going to have to show up, no matter how much she hated formal events, especially royal ones.

"You survived your wife's birthday." His unspoken words hung in the still air between them. _You will survive this, too_.

Haruka nodded, at once agreeing with his spoken words and accepting his unspoken ones. The trek through the desert had been easy for her after her experience trying to reach the Chime Cliffs, and she had not even used her powers once. She had used a simple tent at night to survive the bitter desert cold, walking through the day with the protection of her sand suit and goggles. She had filtered her water from the toxic sap of the cactus when her supply ran low, hunting desert reptiles to supplement her food bars. She felt stronger when she reached the oasis, her skin a few shades darker and her hair lighter, but her people had recognized her without the need for words. They fed her, gave her shelter, and left her alone to resolve the turmoil in her soul. It was the medicine that Michiru knew she needed.

"Tomorrow," she repeated, a note of finality in the word. She was ready to leave.

"I was worried you would miss your own coronation." The teasing voice had been whispering in her mind for days, Haruka spinning around as she realized that the words were no longer merely imagined. Michiru stood behind the pair, her planet crystal glowing in her palm, simple knee-length blue dress offering scant protection from the harsh conditions of the deep desert.

Haruka smiled, stepping forward and drawing the smaller woman into her arms. "You were waiting for me to decide."

"Of course."

"I plan to leave in the morning. Will you stay here tonight?" Michiru nodded, letting her crystal vanish as she glanced at Haruka's companion with a question in her eyes. "This is Akihiko, the leader of the _Sxarthin_. I believe that two of the hunting parties are due back tonight, so we should have a fine feast of traditional desert fare that will put to shame the Uranian delicacies that your mother included in your birthday celebration."

Akihiko chuckled and waved his hand dismissively. "Off-worlders cannot prepare true desert food. Come inside." With the sun setting, the wind would pick up as the temperature dropped. Night in the desert could be incredibly dangerous.

Haruka took Michiru's hand and led her off the roof, glad to have the sea siren back by her side. Michiru squeezed her hand in response to that thought, returning with one of her own. _They are going to wonder where I went._

_No, they won't. Our sisters will simply know and my war queens are wise enough not to question the actions of their queens._ Michiru paused just noticeably at the word, having never thought of herself as equal to her wife in her peoples' eyes. Haruka led her into the room that she had been given, turning Michiru to face her. "Michi, they do not see you as beneath me. Despite your current royal title, they do not think of you as a princess. Remember, Uranus created the Consort position out of the reality that many warriors preferred to marry women who were their equal, preferred to have a Wife to stand beside them at all times. They see you as they saw Yuuka when she married Nao. You are my wife, my queen, my equal. My word may be final and my wishes Law, but I will never let them think of you as less than me."

Michiru felt a warm joy fill her at the words, an affirmation of her love for this tall blonde warrior. "Thank you," she managed, her voice choked by tears.

"It is I who should thank you, my queen," Haruka returned, running her fingers through Michiru's aqua hair. "You saved me from the long, lonely road that my life had always been. I never knew there was another way to live until I landed on your beach. I can never repay you."

Michiru raised her left hand, the wedding scar on her palm drawing her wife's eyes. "You already have, my love."

* * *

"Setsuna, have you seen Michiru? She didn't come to supper last night."

The Plutonian, reading over the menu for Haruka's coronation feast, barely spared Shousha a glance before returning her attention to the servants clustered around her. She was at home in the warrior world's court, appreciating their quiet attention to detail and practical approach to all aspects of court life. "I haven't seen anyone, Shou. I have been too busy to even eat today, and I cannot say I have spared one thought for any of the princesses. Your daughter can take care of herself."

Koshu approached the pair at Setsuna's words, holding a small computer in one hand as holographic images of the various Uranian royal crowns floated in the air above it. "There are fifteen to choose from, Majesty. You're going to have to make a decision since my daughter is still missing and I cannot find her wife." With his Uranian title stripped, Koshu had accepted his place as Consort of the Queen's Mother in stride, deferring to the queen of his birth planet as befitted his new rank. Setsuna had never seen the man so relaxed, and she wondered if it had been a mistake to marry him into the Uranian Royal Court so long ago.

Setsuna turned to Shousha and waved her free hand at the duke. "Instead of worrying about your daughter, who has most likely returned to her wife's side, why don't you help Koshu choose the appropriate Crown Jewels for the occasion? And then you can speak with Asakaze about your dress since the seamstresses should be finished."

"I thought Asakaze was looking into the security arrangements."

"Rikuriko and Meika are doing that. I'm not sure what kind of security is needed for an event attended by ten War Queens, all of the senshi, and dozens of titled Lesser War Queens and their equally titled family members, but they said that arrangements are still not finalized. The good news is that Amami has finished the guest list and the order of events for the ceremony. The bad news is that I know you had some significant amount of input into that, so it will certainly be at least as many people as attended Michiru's birthday party and I doubt we have a venue large enough."

"Hikari is working on that," Shousha replied dismissively, "and she thinks that one of Ado's estates on the southern continent will be suitable. "The guest list is hardly a matter for concern since only the queens and senshi will be formally announced, but Laira has not finalized the list of performers yet. Besides the titled Uranians, there are dozens of artists from Uranus who were knighted on Neptune to consider and a handful of my own people who have won the title of _Asachou_ who would appreciate the honor of performing for the new queen. There will not be enough time."

"There will only be one formal performance," Hikari announced, striding across the hall with that effortless loping gait that Uranians had perfected through millennia of leading ground-based warfare across multiple star systems. Laira was hot on her heels, a pad in her hand and a sparkle of joy in her bright green eyes. "We have had a request from a noble woman who wishes to gain a title, and we have granted that request."

"Haruka would want to see performances from multiple artists," Shousha argued, already thinking about the dozens of people from both worlds who would be disappointed that they could not perform.

"Haruka will not care if there is no ceremony at all, Majesty, so she certainly is not going to argue the finer points of the one we create to honor her," Hikari returned smartly. The War Queens, though usually dismissive of any royalty except their own, had made a special effort to use proper titles and honorifics for the visiting queens, probably at the direction of their own princess in a desperate hope to keep the peace during her absence. They would use the titles, but they would never back down or defer to any non-Uranian, and Setsuna did not expect that attitude to change. "We will allow any _Asachou_ or similarly ranked foreign artist to perform as they wish before the coronation officially begins and at the reception after the event itself, but only one woman will play during it. Haruka will agree completely with my choice." There was a harsh finality in her voice that silenced any further arguments, not that she stayed long enough to hear any. With her announcement made, Hikari spun on one heel and left, Laira still at her back. That brusque attitude had given the Uranians their rough reputation, but Setsuna and Shousha were used to it and knew better than the chase after Hikari and argue her point. The decision was made.

Setsuna chuckled as she glanced over the menus in her hand at the images floating above Koshu's hand. "If only every decision could be made so easily. Shousha, can you take Koshu with you to see Asakaze? I think the two of you can make a choice of crowns that will please the queens and the Uranians."

Shousha nodded and strode off, Koshu following in her wake as Setsuna turned her attention back to the chef and her staff. Who knew that planning a coronation on a world that barely held marriage ceremonies would be so difficult?

* * *

Setsuna awoke with a start, amazed that anyone could sneak up on her after so many years and so many lifetimes of mortality. Haruka stood before the dark queen's bed, glancing at the sleeping silver-haired Lunarian taking up half of the space before turning and walking into the main chamber of the suite. Resisting the urge to sigh, Shousha slipped into a simple black dress and joined the Uranian, closing the bedroom doors to prevent her lover from waking. Haruka had taken a seat on the long couch, watching Setsuna with amused green eyes as the dark queen sat down in a chair opposite her. She looked different, her skin darkened by the desert sun and her hair lighter. There was a fire in her eyes that had been missing when she left, and it seemed that some time alone in the harsh environment of her world had done Haruka a world of good.

"I feel better," Haruka replied, reacting to the thoughts she could _almost_ feel in Setsuna's mind. The Plutonian had not been part of the link that the senshi forged, but spending so much time around the princesses recently had helped her open up slightly.

"I was worried you would miss the coronation."

Haruka shook her head. "Michi knew I would return when I was ready. She came to me last night and brought me back this morning."

Setsuna glanced at the window, noting the faintest tinge of light on the horizon. She had heard that real sunrises, which could only be viewed on Earth, were spectacular, far beyond what an artificial sun over an atmosphere dome could manage, though few gods had seen it since their retreat to Olympus. It had been many thousands of years since she herself had visited the Earth for any extended period of time, so didn't quite remember if it was true. "I see that you are using that word in the strictest sense."

"The others will be awake in an hour or so. I was hoping we can hold the ceremony today instead of days from now." _Before I lose my nerve._ Setsuna heard the words clearly in her mind, knowing that Haruka had intentionally projected them.

Setsuna chuckled. "Of course you want to be difficult. You are lucky that your War Queens can anticipate your moves better than they ever could with Kazeko. They already told me yesterday that we should be prepared to move the ceremony up. Everything is ready to go today, as long as you are ready to be queen."

"I'm ready," Haruka grinned, the sword on her hip glowing as her mother agreed.

"Then go wake your servants. They are going to have their hands full with you this morning."

* * *

Setsuna hadn't lied. The instant she entered her suite, Haruka met Michiru and a flock of servants from Uranus and Neptune, most of whom she had never met. Her wife had taken a chair in one corner, letting three of the servants brush and style her aqua hair while another pair guided Haruka to her own chair and tried to decide what they could do to tame her blonde locks.

It took two hours for them to finish her hair, dress her in the finest gown her seamstresses had ever produced, do what little makeup Haruka would allow, and pick just the right jewelry for the occasion. In the absence of the vanished keystone, Haruka had chosen a topaz necklace that was carved with the symbol of her planet and set with gold, navy crystals accenting the main stone. She sat patiently as her servants wove strands of tiny navy beads into her feathery hair, possibly the first time in her life that she had allowed the decoration that was so popular among the royal women of other worlds, but they matched her dress so perfectly that she could not refuse.

Haruka glared at her wife as her servants painted her fingernails, something she had not allowed since she was a child, but Michiru just smiled as hers were also painted. Haruka grumbled at the decoration, knowing that her long gloves would cover her hands, but she knew better than to argue with the retinue of servants. At one point, the servants stopped their ministrations long enough for the princesses to eat breakfast, but then the primping resumed. When they were finally done, the two women stood in front of each other and examined the results. Michiru, despite her tall heels, still had to look up at her wife, who had been cajoled into wearing heels for possibly the first time in her life.

"Not the first time," Haruka murmured, glancing at her feet, "but it is certainly rare. Usually I wear heeled boots if I want a few extra inches."

"You're beautiful," Michiru murmured. "You should wear dresses more often. I love seeing you like this."

"I remember," Haruka replied, sending an image of their meeting on Titan to her wife. "I may not wear them in public much, but I will wear them for you."

The head servant cleared her throat, glancing at the time piece on the wall. "Majesty, we must go." Haruka offered her arm to Michiru, turning to follow the servants out of her suite. They paused for a moment as the servant placed a small tiara on each of their heads, princess crowns from Haruka's collection, to be replaced with queens' crowns during the coronation. With that complete, the servants led their charges to the teleport pad that linked the royal palace with Ado's mansion thousands of miles away.

* * *

Endou Ado's mansion was both huge and spacious, common for homes in the humid southern continent. Hundreds of nobles crowded the huge gathering hall, listening to music from the performers on the stage as they enjoyed a light brunch. A coronation on Uranus was an excuse for warriors to put away their weapons and meet as allies, letting them make plans and pacts under a banner of peace. Having witnessed first-hand the destruction that a group of angry war leaders could engender, Setsuna was pleased with the overall attitude in the hall.

Serenity, wearing the same elaborate crown that she had been given for her coronation, joined her lover near the side of the stage, offering her a plate of tiny pastries and a cup of some sweet nectar tea that Ado's estates brewed exclusively. "How does this compare to Michiru's party last week?"

"It's quieter, and there are a whole lot more swords." All of the Uranians were armed, most of them carrying blades that were nearly as elaborate as the Space Sword and many of them hundreds or thousands of years old. Decorated weapons were a symbol of power on the moons of Uranus, most certainly in honor of the talisman of their beloved queen. More than any other planet in the system, Uranians loved, honored, and emulated their senshi. "It seems like it is less organized, but just watch these women when their queen arrives and you will see a unity you could never imagine."

Rei, who had been mingling with a couple of Lesser War Queens, casually wandered across the room, greeting her mother and sister on the way. All of the queens' children had stayed with their mothers for the coronation, most of them hoping to find eligible partners among the Uranian nobles since they rarely had time to interact with them off of their home world. The Martian princess finally reached the two queens, an amused half-grin on her face. "I'm not used to seeing you in public together. This may be the first time in over three decades since it has happened."

Setsuna led the two women into a more secluded area of the hall, sipping her tea before speaking. "We can't exactly announce to the world that we have a history, but it is not uncommon for queens to spend time together at royal functions. And, as long as the queen returns to her own chamber at night, no one is the wiser."

"Not when you can teleport to her room and collect her with no one seeing," Rei replied, sipping her own tea. "I know that you can't be as open as we can, but this is the one world where no one will care."

"There is a greater danger than even the Prophecy of the Fall to be considered," Serenity replied, scanning the hall for her daughter as the trio spoke. The young princess was in the company of her prince and two of her senshi, currently Ami and Minako, though they would switch off with their partners throughout the day. They would never leave their princess alone. "Hopefully one day we will be able to tell you why."

A commotion near the door caught Setsuna's attention as a flock of servants dispersed into the crowd and started gathering the royals who would be part of the coronation. Setsuna, Queen Serenity, and Rei were herded to the stage, along with Princess Serenity, Endymion, and the rest of the senshi. The War Queens and the leaders of the Lesser War Queens lined up on either side of the stairs leading down from the stage, already knowing what part they would play. The rest of the planetary queens were already on stage, wearing the same amount of finery they had for Michiru's birthday and their own coronation crowns. The induction of a new woman into their elite band was a bigger event than the recognition of a new senshi, and certainly the biggest event that had been held on Uranus in nearly five decades.

Setsuna, letting a servant take her plate and empty glass, took a moment to admire her sister queens. Amami, normally reserved in simple skirts and pastel colors, had opted for a daring backless black gown with a layer of intricate dark blue lace covering the bodice, the layered skirts sweeping across the floor behind her. Her crown, set with deep blue sapphires from her world, was hung with strings of lapis lazuli that mingled with her dark hair. She wore enough jewelry around her neck, arms, and waist to be mistaken for a Venusian, all of it enhancing the delicacy of her dress. Asakaze, however, would not be outshone by anyone, and she had chosen a pale blue dress covered in golden filigree and diamonds from her world, chains of gold wrapped around her waist and heavy bracelets on her arms. Her crown was more delicate than the Mercurian's, filigreed gold holding golden diamonds and orange citrines around the symbol of her planet. She had also strung clear diamonds in her hair, tiny ones that were just enough to catch the light without weighing down her loose golden curls. Setsuna couldn't remember when that particular fashion had come into vogue, but she did enjoy the effect of tiny gemstones in jewel-colored hair.

Rikuriko joined the group waiting at the back of the stage, straightening her ruby-encrusted crown and checking her necklaces. She had chosen a light pink dress, the skirt split in front to reveal her gold-embroidered white underskirt and the bodice covered in some pale diamonds that looked suspiciously Venusian. Setsuna tilted her head at the Martian, noting the elbow-length pink gloves studded with diamonds and the golden diamonds threaded into her straight red hair. "Did you borrow one of Asa's dresses?"

Rikuriko shrugged dismissively. "She said it would go with my eyes."

Meika, leaning against one of the pillars along the back of the stage, nodded sharply. "She was right about that. I never thought pink would be a good color for you." Meika had chosen pastel colors for her dress, a light blue bodice fading to a gauzy green skirt and tall laced boots. Jovians did not tend to wear jewelry, but Meika had accented her heavy emerald-studded crown with a few simple golden chains around her wrists and neck, pale green peridots in her earrings to offset the light color of her eyes. Setsuna's dress was also unusually light compared to her normal wardrobe, the gentle maroon silk setting off her eyes. Her dress was strapless and tight from the bodice to her knees where it flared out into a ruffled lower skirt, just long enough in the back to brush the floor. Her dress only had a few gemstone embellishments, mostly along the top of the bodice and the waist, but she had chosen to wear a pair of gemstone necklaces gifted to her by Hades many thousands of years ago, each of them holding enough rare and colorful gemstones from his deep domain to buy a small moon. She kept her long, dark arms free, having chosen a single ring that bore her royal seal to accent the crown of black opals set atop her dark green hair. Her hand itched for her staff, but it would be impolitic to carry a talisman to another queen's world in peacetime.

Yumemi, in an effort to lighten the mood her world had found itself in with the threat of Sailor Saturn's rise, had chosen a loose, airy lavender dress with bright amethysts embroidered along the hem and pink sapphires sprinkled across the bodice. Her crown was heavier than the Plutonian's, the symbol of Saturn surrounded by dark amethysts and white opals. Shousha had chosen an aqua and emerald green dress cut in a style that had never been popular on her world, but the other queens recognized it as one that Kazeko had gifted her many years before her death. Shousha hadn't worn it since, but after her visit with her dead lover's spirit, it seemed that she was finally healing.

Queen Serenity stepped to the front of the stage as a commotion at the main doors silenced the room. Though she normally wore simple silver and white gowns, the queen had chosen a pearl-encrusted sleeveless bodice and shimmering lavender skirt threaded with silver and covered in silver diamonds that were only found on the Moon. She wore crystal heels that added nearly two inches to her height, though she was still not as tall as her dark lover. Her crown, formed from Lunarian diamonds and platinum filigree, sat easily upon her silver hair, which had been let loose from her usual style and threaded with strings of pearls. She wore more jewelry than most of the other queens, though it was expected of Lunarian nobility, especially for a coronation.

Her daughter's dress was similar, though young Serenity wore much smaller heels and she had chosen to keep her signature hairstyle. She wore a smaller crown and less jewelry than her mother, and there were fewer gems embroidered into her silky gown. Endymion, an official representative of Earth for the coronation, had chosen a blue suit so dark that it was nearly black and his customary black cloak with red lining. He wore many symbols of his rank, including his long sword and a number of medals marking his membership in certain prestigious Earth Orders. He had chosen not to wear a crown since most of the Silver Millennium nobility would not recognize it, but his bearing marked him as royal just as quickly.

The servants who had led the queens to the stage gathered around the musicians off to their right and quietly walked them toward the floor. The beautiful grand piano that one of the women had been using that morning sat silent, a collection of gem-encrusted stringed, wind, and percussion instruments resting on stands around it. Almost all of the performers that morning had been Uranian, so their instruments were impressive works of art in their own right. A few of the instruments were from off-world, conspicuous without gems and gold inlay, but the piano was the most impressive of all. Setsuna recognized it as the one that Kazeko had used to perform her _Asachou_ concert many years earlier, each key hand-crafted from the pearlescent bones of a huge desert reptile and the ebony lid covered in gold inlay and thousands of gemstones from every planet in the system. It had belonged to the Uranian Queen for thousands of years, but it was only used for the most important of events. Setsuna found herself wondering if Haruka had ever played the instrument.

The commotion resolved itself into the Neptunian herald who had performed his duties so admirably for Shousha over a week before. Hikari had invited him to herald Haruka's coronation, and he had gladly accepted the honor. An aisle formed between the door and the dais, allowing him to join the queens on the stage. The four Inner Senshi raised their right hands to the ceiling as he approached, a planet crystal in each one as they called out their transformations. They had debated for hours the best way to honor Haruka's new rank, and in the end they decided to wear the uniform that showed their unity and sisterhood the best. Each of them had decided that the tiara in their senshi uniforms would be sufficient, though they were each wearing a small crown in their civilian forms.

The herald stopped at the front of the stage, turning to face the gathered nobles. He spoke into absolute silence, one that could only come from a trained warrior race accustomed to instantly obeying orders. Every pair of eyes rested on him as he raised his hands. "It is my great honor today to welcome you all to the Coronation of Haruka, daughter of Kazeko and Koshu, descendant of Nao the Conqueror, child of the High Duke of Umbriel. Today Haruka will take her rightful place as Queen of Uranus." Every Uranian man and woman drew a sword, holding it to the sky in response. Setsuna, who had seen these people and their ancestors march into battle for thousands of years, had never ceased to be amazed by their ability to move and respond in perfect sync.

"Her Majesty Queen Serenity of the Silver Millennium will be conferring that honor today, and she is joined by Queen Amami of Mercury, Queen Asakaze of Venus, Queen Rikuriko of Mars, Queen Meika of Jupiter, Queen Yumemi of Saturn, Queen Shousha of Neptune, and Queen Setsuna of Pluto." Uranians were less impressed by heavy formality than Neptunians, but they did want to honor the royal visitors with a brief announcement of their names since they were all so important to their soon-to-be queen. "We are also joined by Princess Serenity of the Moon, Princess Ami of Mercury, Princess Minako of Venus, Princess Rei of Mars, Princess Makoto of Jupiter, and Prince Endymion of the Earth." There was a subtle shift in the mood at his name, eyes turning to the tall, black-haired man and wondering what part Earth had to play in these proceedings. The stares only lasted a moment as the guards at the other end of the aisle snapped to full attention and reached to open the two doors along the back wall of the hall.

Every Uranian turned to face the aisle and dropped to one knee, despite how difficult Setsuna would have believed that to be in such fine dresses and fitted suits. While the off-worlders were attempting to achieve the same stance, the Uranians all took their swords and held them in front of their chests, tip on the carpeted floor, and bowed their heads. It was a gesture of highest respect, offering a sword to the new queen, and the senshi debated for only a moment along their link before assuming a similar posture, though without the swords. Sailor Uranus was their ultimate leader in all matters that threatened the entire system, and they wanted her to know that they would respect and obey her. Glancing at Princess Serenity for a moment, Endymion assumed a similar position, kneeling behind Minako and Ami with his sword in his hand. It was almost too long for such a display, but he was taller than all of the senshi so it worked for him.

The herald moved off the stage until he was needed again as Haruka stepped through the double doors and began her journey across the golden carpet. She had chosen a stunning form-fitting dress of dark navy blue with thousands of golden threads woven through the fabric and shining in the light. She wore a silken cord around her waist to hold the Space Sword, the cord decorated with golden citrines and dark navy-blue sapphires that were only found on her home world. She had chosen to wear a pair of heels that were very close in color to the navy boots she wore as a senshi and a pair of long, white satin gloves that reached almost to her shoulders, each of them embroidered with dozens of symbols created with a rainbow of hundreds of tiny gemstones. Setsuna recognized many of the symbols as the images for each of the titles that Haruka had earned, include _Kazemaru_ , and there was a strange feathery navy and gold flower on the left wrist that the dark queen struggled to place. Her crimson eyes widened as she realized that it could only be the symbol of a _Yamakami_ , the rare few who had managed to reach the Chime Cliffs on Miranda where Uranus had hidden until she and Psyche's twin children had found the exiled god. Haruka _knew_ the instant that the Plutonian placed that title, offering her fellow senshi a rueful half-grin. Of course she had earned that title; Nao's planet crystal had been hidden there. Glancing at the other senshi, Setsuna could see the thought pass through their link from Haruka, each of them nodding at the dark queen. All of them were _Yamakami_ , a title so prestigious that it carriers would be ranked among the Uranian nobility even with no other accolades to their names.

Haruka wore a simple golden circlet with a single gold diamond in the center, the symbol of her place as a princess, the crown she had brought to "trade in". Her servants had managed to paint her eyelids with a beautiful gold powder, darker lines above her lashes giving her a slightly more dangerous expression than the one she normally affected. Her eyelashes, already long and dark without the need for any assistance, sparkled with golden glitter in the lights of the halls, a fashion trend that was only popular on Uranus, among these women who mixed war and arts so well that often there was no distinction between the two. Haruka was the epitome of that belief, able to show her strength even while clothed in the most beautiful dress she had ever worn. Gold glitter also decorated her collarbone and threads of gold were tied onto some of the strands of her hair to match the faint touch of gold on her lips, offsetting the navy gemstones woven into those wild locks. The only jewelry she allowed herself beyond the tiny golden hoops in her ears was a topaz necklace that was carved with the symbol of her planet and set with gold, navy crystals accenting the main stone, that had been much beloved by Kazeko, hanging from a delicate golden chain around her neck.

Setsuna glanced at Shousha, seeing in the Neptunian's eyes a reflection of her own thought. Haruka was as beautiful as her mother, despite her best efforts to eschew that facet of her personality. Never had the line of Uranus produced a child who could so perfectly balance on the edge of _sa'usikha_. This woman was the daughter of Uranus even more than Nao had been, the most perfect avatar her lineage had ever created. Setsuna allowed herself a moment to consider each of the senshi in turn, seeing in them the ultimate traits valued by their gods, the final and most desperately desired result of each planet's centuries-long breeding program.

Ami was brilliant, her mind moving faster than Hermes himself with his enchanted sandals, holding more Scholarships than her previous incarnation had attempted. Minako was beautiful, a siren to rival golden Aphrodite, but with a deep capacity for love that few believed a god could express. Rei was a deadly warrior, with an instinct for blood that had even surprised Ares, but her deadly insanity could be tempered by the fires of her world. Makoto was a fierce Amazon warrior princess deeply tied to the trees of her home world, with a power that could rival even the great Zeus and a military acumen to challenge his daughter Athena. Haruka was the most perfect avatar of Uranus that Setsuna had ever known, having lived with each of that soul's predecessors, and it was clear from the way her people responded to her presence that she would be the greatest queen that her planet had ever known. Michiru embodied her god and his wife both in her beauty and warrior strength, a power that Setsuna had witnessed first-hand during the choosing of the Sixth War Queen. If only half of the reports from Neptune were true, Michiru was a greater musician than Yuuka had been, and her power of premonition rivaled any the gods had ever seen.

As Setsuna thought of the Neptunian, Michiru entered the room behind her wife, light to Haruka's dark, intensely feminine, but only a fool would mistake that delicate beauty for weakness. Among the women of Uranus, most especially among those who had seen her fight in the challenge for the Sixth War Queen seat, there were no longer any fools. Her dress was a waterfall of lace and silk, colored in more shades of light blue, aqua, and light green than Setsuna could name. The bodice held her chest tightly before flaring out at the hips, colored in the pale sky blue seen only in the skies of Earth and covered in very fine white lace studded with light blue celestite chips. The gauzy top layers of her skirt shone with silvery threads along the hems, the lowest layer a medium ocean blue and the top layer the same aqua color as her hair. She easily wore enough jewelry to make up for Haruka's conservative choice, with lapis lazulis, aquamarines, sapphires, peridots, sea colored diamonds, and pale emeralds vying for dominance on chains around her neck, wrists, and waist. Some of them even hung in her wavy aqua hair from under her simple silver tiara with its navy-blue diamond in the center. She followed a few steps behind Haruka, as much a part of this coronation process as the blonde Uranian, her eyes nearly sapphire in the lights of the great hall.

Haruka reached the foot of the stage, pausing to nod to her War Queens. They had knelt, five on each side, along the stairs with their blades held before them, but they did not bow their heads as the lower nobles had done. They watched their beloved princess with eyes every shade of the rainbow and she returned their gazes, silently thanking them for their support and loyalty. She ascended the stairs and reached the stage, stopping to greet her fellow senshi. She took each of their gloved hands in turn, meeting their eyes as silent messages passed between them, Michiru smiling as she echoed her wife's actions. The senshi stood as their partners passed, supporting her in silence. The pair approached the gathered queens, Haruka bowing as Michiru dropped to a curtsy.

Serenity smiled and gestured for the pair to rise, waiting for the other queens to spread to either side before raising her hands. At the gesture, all of the Uranians rose and sheathed their swords in near-perfect unison, the sound of ringing steel filling the hall. As silence fell again, Queen Serenity began the ceremony.

"Warriors and Artists, I welcome you to Uranus for the coronation of your new queen." The ceremonial greetings on the desert world always included a reference to the dual nature of the Uranian soul, and Setsuna had always been intently fascinated by the various greetings used throughout the system. "It has been two decades since we lost Kazeko, a good and dear friend to myself and her sister queens, but her daughter has grown into a fine woman, a warrior and artist without measure, and has earned her place among the Uranian people. _Kazemaru_ , _Yamakami_ , and Champion of the Ganymede Invitational are only some of the prestigious titles that Haruka has won, bringing honor to her family and her people."

Haruka raised her arms to the ceiling, facing her people as she proudly displayed her many titles to her people. They stomped their feet in unison, silently offering their support as their princess lowered her arms and turned back to the High Queen. Serenity gestured for Endou Ado to join her on the stage, the First War Queen carrying a pillow that cradled the heavy Miranda Prime Crown of Uranus, an artistic golden circlet with filigreed sockets holding hundreds of tiny golden and navy stones, a single navy diamond in the center with deep golden striations. The huge stone, nearly the size of the queen's palm, was known as the Song of the Storm, and it was the oldest known gemstone in the Silver Millennium. It was said to have been formed from a drop of Uranus's blood when Zeus attacked him, and Setsuna was reasonably certain that the origin was true, though it had happened before her birth. Aphrodite had once told her of a lovely stone found by one of the first Uranian queens, a blue stone with Uranus's gold in its heart, that was just as old as the Goddess of Love herself.

Serenity lifted the crown as Haruka drew the Space Sword, holding it parallel to the ground in front of her as her eyes met Serenity's. _"My Sword is yours, Queen of the Silver Millennium and holder of the_ ginzuishou _,"_ she intoned in Lunarian, _"but these people are mine and I claim my crown through Rite of Title."_ Uranian Queens, no matter their birth, could never rule their people without earning at least one of the Great Three titles, _Kazemaru, Asachou,_ or _Yamakami_ , and the Rite of Title was Haruka's public declaration that she had earned the right to rule her people. She could have demanded the title at any time after winning the Ganymede Invitational in 8979 and earning her _Kazemaru_ title, but the child had not been ready to declare herself before her people. After spending time with her fellow senshi, after being reunited with Princess Serenity whom she hadn't seen in fourteen years, and after marrying the Neptunian siren standing two steps behind her on the stage, Haruka was finally ready to be Queen. Setsuna felt a tear form in the corner of her eye at the majesty of Kazeko's daughter who carried the soul of Uranus's beloved child.

" _I give the people of Uranus to you freely, Haruka the Windrunner, but they must accept your rule on their own."_ Haruka turned to her people and raised her sword into the air, knowing that the Uranian nobles understood the meaning of the High Queen's words even if they did not speak Lunarian. Every one of them drew a small knife or dagger in their right hand and touched it to their left palm, cutting just enough to allow a few drops of blood to well up before sheathing their blades. Unlike the knives used in marriage ceremonies, these blades were coated in a salve that would speed healing, most of the wounds closing after only two or three drops of blood had oozed out. They stood there, silent, offering their blood to Haruka, and she nodded as returned her sword to her waist and pulled a tiny dagger out of the top of her left glove from a sheath that Setsuna had not even noticed.

_Dear Gods, she's as bad as Rei,_ Setsuna thought, knowing instantly that the senshi had somehow heard her, all eyes flicking to the dark queen for a second. Haruka also cut a tiny line across her palm through her glove, showing her blood to her people in response to their offering. Non-Uranian nobles rarely attended Uranian coronations for this reason, since the bloodletting rituals they adored were seen as reckless and barbaric on the other worlds. Haruka turned back to Queen Serenity, freezing at a movement from her sister senshi as they all turned to her with tiny daggers in their hands, weapons that should not be part of a senshi's uniform. Silently, four pairs of eyes meeting Haruka's shocked grey-green gaze impassively, each young woman offered a few drops of blood to their leader. They didn't say anything, watching with supportive smiles as tears welled up in the corner of the blonde Uranian's eyes. She had not expected that, especially from her more pacifistic sisters. Michiru, having already bonded herself to Haruka through a much more intimate blood offering, reached out to touch the taller woman's arm, conveying all of her love and support in that one simple gesture.

Queen Serenity smiled as Haruka turned back to her, holding the crown high above her head. Though taller than her own golden-haired child, the queen was still nowhere near Haruka's rather impressive height, so the Uranian gracefully fell into a kneeling position before her. "I see the loyalty and love of your people, Haruka daughter of Kazeko, child of the High Duke of Umbriel. I see, too, the love of your fellow senshi and their promise to you, as the leader of the Outer Senshi, to lead them. Tell me, child, are you prepared to be queen of these people?"

"I am already their Queen," Haruka replied smoothly, her voice strong and certain. "I have been for some time, but I only just realized it myself. I am now finally ready to rule them as they deserve."

"Then, as High Queen of the Silver Millennium, I do hereby crown you Queen Haruka the First, Empress of Oberon, High Duke of Umbriel, High Priestess of the Silent Night Temple, and Lord of Miranda. All hail Queen Haruka the First!" Princess Serenity stepped forward and removed Haruka's princess tiara, placing it on Ado's pillow as her mother settled the larger crown on the Uranian's blonde head.

"All Hail Queen Haruka!"

Haruka stood and faced her people, unable to keep the tears from her eyes as she took her place _at last_ as their rightful Queen. Raising her hands for silence, she gestured for Fourth Ono Hikari to approach the queens, carrying another heavily embroidered pillow with the second oldest Uranian crown settled on top. It was only slightly smaller than the crown Haruka had chosen for herself, wrought with white gold and small dark navy sapphires, a large, round golden diamond in the center. Though not as old as the Queen's Crown, it was well known to the nobles as the crown that Yuuka had worn as Nao's wife, the last time that a second queen had been acknowledged on the desert worlds. Haruka took the beautiful crown in her hands and turned to Michiru, remembering herself as Nao facing Yuuka on just such a day three thousand years earlier.

"I have no fancy words for you, and we have no specific ritual to accept a second queen, but I have the power to name you my Queen-Wife, second only to me on the Moons of Uranus, with the titles of Second Empress of Oberon, High Duchess of Umbriel, Priestess of the Silent Night, and Lady of Miranda to match my own. Michi, my heart, will you accept a place beside me as my queen?"

"Always, my dearest love." Michiru smiled through her own tears as Serenity removed her princess tiara to make a place for the white gold crown Haruka was offering. As she crowned her wife, Haruka _knew_ that Michiru's last fears of having a true place on Uranus were gone. Her people would never see Michiru as a _consort_ or only as Haruka's wife, but as her equal and beloved partner, the _saliis_ to Haruka's _sajink_ , as the completion of her soul. The people of Uranus would here and forever only know Michiru as Queen.

The other queens surrounded the pair, congratulating them and admiring the crowns that Koshu had chosen for them to wear. The senshi dropped their transformations and joined the pair, admiring their beautiful dresses and crowns, each of them secretly thinking of the day that they would become queens themselves. Each of the princesses had worn deceptively simple white dresses with bodices embroidered in the colors of their planets with matching gemstones, gems also sparkling on the hems of their long skirts. They wore varying amounts of jewelry and crowns from their own worlds, colored diamonds sparkling in their hair. They had done everything possible to match, wanting to provide a united and supporting front for their fellow senshi. Michiru slipped away from her wife and headed for the musician half of the stage, the War Queens joining Haruka as silence took the hall once more.

Michiru reached the ornate grand piano and held out her hand, watching as an opalescent white-wood violin decorated with tiny aquamarines appeared. The bow, crafted from the same beautiful white wood, appeared in her other hand, Michiru raising the instrument to her chin. The senshi exchanged confused glances as they recognized the violin from their trip to Amphitrite's cave, but they had no idea what the Neptunian was doing and her mind was closed to them. Shousha took a half-step forward, remembering what Hikari had said while they were planning the coronation, but she had never imagined that her own daughter would be the one performing for the _Asachou_ title. Setsuna placed a hand on the Neptunian's arm, warning her not to interfere, all eyes turning to the aqua-haired siren. Haruka was also staring at her wife, having never imagined that Michiru would seek this title at her coronation.

Michiru began to play into the silence, a light, happy tune that Haruka remembered from her time on Neptune, something written to honor Dionysus. The tune faded into one of the epic ballads written about the old queens, the music swirling through the hall and drawing the listeners in as the song continued. Uranians were a practical people and they needed no official announcement to know Michiru's goal. A few of them were glancing at the War Queens to see if the song moved them, but most had their full attention on their new queen standing in front of the piano. She continued to play, moving into a song about Zeus's rise to power with his brothers and sisters, her eyes meeting Haruka as she reached the final chords.

Haruka instantly knew what her wife wanted, what song she had chosen to play next for the gathered War Queens, but it could not be played by a violin alone. Michiru's mind was still closed to her, but Haruka headed toward the piano anyway. Taking a seat on the padded bench, she rested her long fingers on the pearlescent keys and reached for the first notes of _The Last Betrayal_ , smiling as her wife's violin joined her. The song was actually much longer than the short stanza that the pair had sung in Amphitrite's cave, that verse having been added by Nao and Yuuka to a song originally titled _The Senshi Heart_. The song touched on the powers and lives of the original senshi, moving through each of the generations that held the powerful souls birthed by the gods, the souls of the true avatars. The last few verses were about Nao, Yuuka, and their fellow senshi, having been added at the end of the original song. The full song was only known on the moons of Uranus and Neptune, though the first few verses were famous throughout the rest of the system due to Taichen Laira's _Asachou_ -winning movie _Winds of Uranus._ Haruka sang each of the verses alone, but as she finished the penultimate verse, Michiru dropped her violin and closed her eyes. Together, with only the piano for accompaniment, Haruka and Michiru began to sing that mournful final verse.

" _Is it the blowing lilac wind that beckons us?_

_Or is it the violin among the misty waters?_

_Dreams, in this troubled, frivolous world_

_Bloom with a single cut from a flower's sword"_

It was a farewell to Nao and Yuuka, a recognition of both their intertwined souls and that terrible final choice that they had made three thousand years earlier. The symbolism was most poignant to the Uranian and Neptunian listener, losing a great deal of meaning when translated to any other tongue from the artistic language of Titania. The lilac wind was a common symbol applied to the Queen of Uranus by the natives of Titania, and they used misty waters for the Queen of Neptune. Titanians considered dreams to be a Uranian's window to the future, with the conflicting imagery of troubled and frivolous pointing at the death of their queens in service to a terrible choice. The final line referenced the hope of a new future, one that could reverse the loss of the planet crystals and the darkness that had descended on the royal houses in the tumultuous years that followed.

As the final note of the song faded, Haruka stood up from the piano, joining her wife as they both bowed to the assembled War Queens. A shuffling silence had filled the hall, the Uranians' inability to stand at their normally perfect military-still speaking to how moved they had been by the performance. They all turned to their War Queens, hoping to see the same reaction among those powerful women, and they were shocked to see tears in their eyes. Tears from the most powerful and most disciplined warriors of the Silver Millennium, from a people not given to crying for the most practical of reasons. Tears prevented them from seeing their enemy, from judging danger, and, in a holdover from the time when most Uranians lived in the desert or dry and harsh scrubland, tears were a waste of water. The War Queens offered tears to their newly crowned queens.

The other queens and princesses moved closer together, wiping moisture from their own eyes as they silently urged the War Queens to judge the performance positively. If they could see the women's eyes, they would know that they had nothing to worry about. The War Queens had been moved beyond the capacity for words, Hikari stepping forward and taking the position of speaker. Ado, Sanae, and Hiroko were unable to speak through the lumps in their throat, but Hikari had always been more in control of her emotions than her superiors on the council. Wiping the tears from her own golden eyes, Haruka's cousin smiled at the two performers.

"When I agreed to allow only one performer during the coronation itself, I knew that Michiru, child of the Seas of Triton, would not disappoint us. I and the other War Queens have heard of her prowess with dozens of musical instruments, but few Uranians other than Taichen Laira have ever heard her play. And, of course, no Uranian has ever heard Queen Haruka's prowess on the piano, though we have long suspected. Today we have had both desires satisfied, and with a song so deeply ingrained in our cultural memory that few can ever perform it to our satisfaction. I speak for my fellow War Queens when I tell you that we are honored to award the title of _Asachou_ to both of you."

The hall erupted into cheers, the people calling the names of their queens and surging forward in an attempt to show their support. The queens and princesses moved forward to surround the pair, Michiru as calm as ever as she accepted the accolades, while Haruka's expression was one of shock. She had not considered the ramifications of her performance, having only desired to aid her wife with that final song, but a gentle chuckle in the back of her mind indicated that it had been Michiru's plan all along.

_So that is why you closed your mind to us._

_I could not let you hear what I planned, Ruka, or you would have refused. You were not performing for your people just then, you were performing for me alone, and that is what won you the title. I knew it would._

_Why? You would have achieved it on your own merits even if I did not play that song with you. If you had chosen_ Light of Uranus, Kiurani's Blood, _or_ Uranus the Two-Sided God _, they would have been moved._

Michiru glanced over Rei's shoulder at her wife, still smiling and thanking the other senshi for their support as she continued the silent conversation. _I did not want the title if you did not also win it. It was important for me to show your people that I respect their customs and can claim the throne by your side through the Rite of Title, but it was equally important that my mother and aunt to see you today, for them to tell everyone on my world of your prowess so that no Neptunian will ever doubt your ability to rule them. Today I became second queen to you on Uranus, but one day you will be second queen to me on Neptune and I will make sure that my people love you as much I do. Today it was important for you to show my people that you have an artist's heart, despite your warrior's hands._

Haruka stepped towards her wife as Rei moved aside, placing one gloved hand on the Neptunian's cheek. "A warrior's hands, huh?" She was smiling, her eyes green again and free of shock or worry, showing through her teasing reply that she accepted what her wife had done and appreciated it, though she didn't have the words to thank her.

Michiru, as always, understood. "Don't worry, Haruka," Michiru replied gently, taking Haruka's free right hand in her own and twining her fingers with the blonde's. "I like your hands."

* * *


	35. Visions in the Flame

**Chapter 35: Visions in the Flame**

* * *

_March 20, 8983 – March 24, 8983_

* * *

"Michi?"

The Neptunian shook her head and smiled demurely at her wife. "My stomach is just a little upset, Ruka. Honestly, I'm surprised it's taken this long for me to have a bad reaction to all of this new food I've eaten after a lifetime of eating primarily Neptunian cuisine. It must have been the _aljhii_ berries we had this afternoon."

Ami entered the lounge, holding a blue crystal goblet on a silver serving tray. "The servants brought this for you. It's made from a type of Jovian ginger known to settle upset stomachs. It's pretty bitter, so I had them mix it with sweetener and carbonated soda water."

"Thank you." Michiru carefully took the goblet and sipped it, deciding that the taste was acceptable before finishing the contents. "I don't understand why they needed to use such an elaborate glass."

Haruka chuckled and leaned against the window, staring into the courtyard beneath the palace. "You're their queen. They wouldn't dare offer you a dish that wasn't both gorgeous and priceless. That is one of the goblets gifted to my grandmother by Setsuna's mother at the wedding of one of her cousins to the First War Queen of the time."

"I guess I never thought I would be in a court to rival my mother's in extravagance."

"My people would only show this to one of their own. Outsiders are encouraged to believe that we live a nomadic desert lifestyle with few provisions as they see in our popular films." She glanced back over her shoulder, a trace of worry crossing her features. "Are you well enough to escort Serenity home tomorrow?"

Michiru chuckled and ran her fingers through her hair. "Haruka, it's a simple upset stomach. We will have the power of all seven senshi to teleport back and Setsuna could take us all on her own. Don't worry about me."

"It will only be six," Haruka replied, still staring out toward the distant desert. "The War Queens are in council early tomorrow morning with the main fleet leaders to discuss troop deployments and defenses around Uranus. As the queen, I have to be there."

Michiru could hear the underlying apology, and she smiled sweetly at her wife. "Ruka, don't be upset that your royal duties will prevent you from traveling with us. A queen's place is with her people, and Uranians need their queen more than most."

"That's completely true," Ami replied, her sapphire eyes buried in the tome of prophecies that she had been translating since their trip to Earth. "Remember when Queen Alira traveled to Kinmoku in 5467? She returned to find the Uranian fleet in a standoff with the fleets of Jupiter, Mars, and Saturn over some minor slight to the Second War Queen. It very nearly sparked a civil war."

Haruka nodded, remembering her history tutor describing the political scene that had sparked that unrest. "The Second at the time was a very prim woman from Umbriel, not closely enough related to the Royal Line to be of any influence, even though she held the seat of Second. From what I recall, even the Tenth War Queen commanded a larger fleet and had better suitors for her sons. The Lady of Deimos refused to consider the Second's oldest son as a suitor for her daughter, and war nearly followed. After that incident, the Queen always appoints a Chancellor if she plans to be out of the system for an extended period of time. Until about three thousand years ago, the position was permanent, but the practice has declined since we stopped traveling to other solar systems."

"You may want to consider a rebirth of that custom," Ami suggested. "If the Uranians truly wanted to, I believe that they could take control of the Solar System. It would take a tremendous event to drive them to a peak of fury high enough to precipitate such a war, but it is not a war that the other worlds could conceivably win."

Haruka sighed, her green eyes darkening to gray. "I know. My people have spent thousands of years training themselves to be warriors without equal, the first line of defense against threats from outside the Solar System, but those we protect could easily become victims of our wrath if we ever turned our face toward the Sun. I worry about that constantly, especially after this recent unrest at the death of the previous Sixth. But it's hard to find a decent Chancellor, a woman strong enough to earn the respect of the War Queens but with a heart of peace that can balance the call for war. I believe I can eventually find such a woman, but it may take many years."

Rei started, her purple eyes flashing red as a sudden vision screamed through her mind. Thousands of war ships, their configurations alien to her, filling the skies of Mars. Her own fleet, much smaller than she would have expected, was dwarfed in comparison, though it fought until every ship was disabled, at which point she was forced to call for the surrender of her forces. The image of a tall, older Uranian woman with gray hair and sharp black eyes filled her mind, and she knew the vision to be prophetic. Minako turned to face her partner, her sharp blue eyes boring into Rei's dark purple as the remnants of the vision flashed across their link. "Haruka, you may want to anoint that Chancellor sooner rather than later," the Martian murmured. "Your people easily could make war against the rest of the system, and I fear that it may happen someday."

Haruka turned her gray-green eyes toward her sister senshi of war. "My people will never go to war with the rest of the system as long as I am their queen."

Rei smiled and agreed, but deep in her soul she felt a dark foreboding at the blonde's words. One day, the Uranians would go to war, and that gray-haired woman would lead them against the other worlds.

* * *

Tranquility stared across the battlefield and felt a twinge of concern. This Priestess was stronger and more frightening than any woman he had ever converted, but he had faith that she was his best hope to bring his sister back. Beryl crouched among the carnage, one hand on the body of a blonde-haired general, pouring her dark Cupid-power into the corpse. As Tranquility watched, the man struggled to his feet, blood still soaking his dark uniform and a gash stretching across his brow. Beryl touched his forehead and sealed the gash as his dead eyes brightened to a pale grey and locked on the red-haired Cupid. She grinned as she bound his soul to hers, handing him a palm-sized piece of grey-green jade, which she used to control the general's soul. Beryl had explained to Tranquility that this battle would be a test of her new youma and allow her to expand her armies drastically. The generals were an added bonus, and four of them had fallen in the battle. From what Tranquility could tell, these were Endymion's main generals, so controlling them would give Beryl control of the armies.

Tranquility watched as Beryl repeated the process with Zoicite, Nephrite, and Kunzite, giving them gems that bound them to her and allowed them to change the dying into youma. As her armies and her power expanded, she would one day be able to convert the living and healthy. Her four new minions spread out through the battlefield and began to convert the bodies of their men into youma as she rejoined Tranquility and his attendant Cupids, her face pale in exhaustion. "I will have thousands more minions by the end of the day. Thankfully, the generals' souls were strong enough for me to convert without changing them into youma, so they will be able to create more minions for me. If the prince was still here on Earth, this would not have been possible. For an Earthling, his power is impressive. Soon, my legions will dwarf the armies of the moon and we can crush them utterly."

Tranquility smiled, still slightly unnerved by this Cupid's bloodlust. Still, nothing he had done so far had gotten him any closer to finding his lost sister, so hopefully Beryl's approach would help. "Indeed, my priestess."

* * *

Shousha had never expected her daughter to visit her in her chambers, even after their more peaceful relations since Haruka's outing on Larissa. The princess, wearing a small but intricate tiara as the Uranians expected from their Queen's beloved wife, sat on a heavily embroidered pillow near the open window, staring out across the desert as the banners on the ramparts snapped in the afternoon breeze. The people of Oberon would celebrate their new Queen for a year, throwing banquets in her honor, sending gifts, and decorating the castle and their homes in her royal colors, far more celebration than even the Neptunians could boast after Shousha received her crown. She was learning more about her planet's celestial neighbor in the past few weeks than she had learned in the four decades since she met Kazeko.

"We have never been close." Shousha had been so deep in thought that she was startled at her daughter's words, but she couldn't help but agree. "I am your first daughter, but I have never had your love. My brother, the child you lost, had more affection from you than I ever have."

"You're right," Shousha admitted slowly, staring down into her wine glass at the words. "Michiru, your father died four days after I learned that I was pregnant with you, and part of me was relieved. I hate to say that, but you must now know that I never loved him and I only ever wanted Kazeko."

"And she died only a few weeks before I was born."

Shousha nodded, feeling her daughter's aqua eyes on her. "I was furious at them, at the other queens, and I hated the child that had been born to my lover. I was not prepared to be a mother at that moment, so I gave you to the nannies and hoped that, in time, I would heal. I almost did."

Michiru leaned forward, hands folded primly in her lap in contrast with the excitement in her eyes. She had never been able to speak with her mother before, especially about something so important. "Then we went to the Moon for the Presentation and you saw me with Haruka."

Shousha looked up at last, letting her eyes meet her daughter's, aqua shining at aqua across the room. "I saw then what took you fourteen more years to notice, that you and she were destined to be together. When my fellow senshi and I were young, we learned the truth about our ancestors, that a senshi soul can only be mated to another senshi, and I knew that you would one day know the loss that I had to suffer when Kazeko took Koshu as her husband. I saw that soulmate spark between the two of you, and I knew that I had to protect you from Haruka, keep you locked away on Neptune until both of you were safely married."

"Well, now we are." Michiru smirked, watching as an answering smile spread across her mother's face.

"I should have known better than to try to keep soulmates apart from each other. I never wanted to push you away, but I saw in you myself as a child, before I was angry and bitter and alone."

"I can say, for the first time in my life, that I am pleased that you saw yourself in me." Michiru stood, brushing her hands down her silky ice blue dress as she walked toward the balcony. When she had first arrived on Oberon, she had squinted when she looked out across the blinding sand, but now it did not stab her eyes as much. "I want you to see that I am happy, and to fully accept my life. I know you have questions."

"Then you know the primary one in my mind."

"You want to know how Haruka and I will have heirs."

"I can say the thought has occurred to me many times since that night."

"We discovered a method used by Nao and Yuuka. The father of Yuuka's children was Nao's brother, and Yuuka's cousin fathered Nao's twins in turn. The children were still royal, with incredible noble lineage, and the queens could be together. Between Aunt Raya's sons and Fourth Hikari's, Haruka and I can utilize the same option."

"I can't imagine Haruka pregnant," Shousha admitted wryly, smiling when her daughter chuckled. "And I also can't imagine that she would approve of you sleeping with a man, even her own cousin, in order to conceive an heir."

"Ami has a method that has been used on Mercury for centuries to breed prized animals and livestock without the uncertainty that natural reproduction can cause. She suggests that this method is sometimes used for people who have trouble conceiving on their own. She calls it artificial insemination."

"Interesting. I would be curious to see if it works."

"I intend that you should be there, in my daughter's life."

Shousha nodded and smiled at her child. "I may not have been the best mother, but I will be a marvelous grandmother." She felt a great sense of relief as she finally came to an understanding with her daughter, finally felt a sense of family. She had not known how much she desired that until Michiru had entered her guest suite.

* * *

"Did you speak with your mother?"

"I did. It went well."

Haruka grinned and nodded, swiping through messages that scrolled across the screen on her desk. Now that she was queen, it was impossible for her to get away from the royal minutiae that her father and his advisors had managed for two decades. She was getting used to the constant paperwork, reports, and meetings, but she did sometimes miss her lonely life.

_No you don't._ Haruka chuckled and looked up at her wife, the aquanette leaning across the desk with her hands resting on its opalescent surface with a smirk slowly spreading across her face. _You love the attention, the adoration, the_ worship _of your people._

"Worship?! Michi, that's blasphemy."

"Of all the gods in our Pantheon, yours is the least likely to take offense."

"Even Uranus would object to a mortal comparing herself to a god."

Michiru turned sideways and sat on the edge of the desk, crossing one slender leg over the other. Her skirt didn't quite reach her knees, and she knew what effect she was having on her blonde partner as green eyes slowly brightened to gold. "Uranus is a Titan. Do you think she cares if you are seen as a mere god?"

Haruka paused the scrolling reports, standing from her desk with all of the grace and beauty her people could boast. Her eyes were pure gold, the color exciting Michiru as her own eyes darkened to sapphire in response. "A mere god? I'll have you know that I am a Uranian Queen, soul-daughter to Uranus, Father of all Titans and Grandfather of the Gods. I am more than a god and I will prove it to you." She reached the Neptunian as she finished, long arms trapping her wife against the desk.

"How?" Michiru teased, gently raising her crossed leg until her shin pressed against Haruka's center, a shudder passing through the blonde at the contact.

And that was the last straw. Haruka pushed Michiru down against the opalescent surface, catching her in a bruising kiss as she ground against her wife's now-trapped leg. There was little chance she was going to get those reports and assignments done before her meeting with the War Queens.

* * *

Ado and Hikari picked from the bowl of tiny pastries on the table, the Fourth War Queen wrinkling her nose at the red berries in the center of hers. "Never been a fan of Jovian fruit. Too sweet, too juicy for those of us with delicate taste buds."

Yuri plucked the pastry from her colleague's hand, hazel eyes more green than brown as she glared at Hikari. "I like them just fine."

Miki leaned back in her seat, still amazed that she belonged at that table, and chuckled. "Our Queen is late and you are arguing about the food."

"I saw Michiru enter Haruka's study about an hour ago," Hikari replied, touching the edge of the recessed screen in the table and reading through the reports that Haruka had already sorted and returned. The new Queen had stopped replying to reports about ten minutes after she had seen Michiru enter the study in the Royal Suite. "It seems that our new sovereign was interrupted by her blushing bride."

"Really?" Sayuri leaned forward, pushing her ever-present braids behind her ear to keep them from interfering with her view. Hikari waved her hand over her screen, projecting the image into the air where everyone could see the timestamp on Haruka's last report. "Oh to be young and in love."

"You could have that, too, if you would start entertaining suitors again," Hiroko teased, glancing at her long-time lover Sanae who shared her smirk. "Or take a lover. You're far too distant, Sayuri. I know that you are very close with your sisters and their children, but you should have someone to attend social events and royal parties with you."

"Not recently," Hikari retorted dryly, returning to flipping through her reports. "I do believe I saw one of my many daughters leaving your room this morning."

Silence spread through the War Queens, Miki's golden eyes widening in the shock of unexpected discovery as she glanced at Sayuri across the table. There was no doubt in the other War Queens' minds which daughter had entertained Sayuri the night before. The Tenth War Queen blushed and her blue eyes paled at Hikari's words, suddenly wishing that she had not pushed her concealing braids away. "You see a little more than you ought to, Fourth."

"And you're louder than you think, Tenth," Hikari returned, her voice sharper than it had been moments earlier, turning the full force of her golden gaze toward her dark-haired companion. "If you have intentions with my daughter, I do have the right, as her mother, to be consulted."

"It just happened, Hikari, last night. I was going to speak with you today."

"Then speak now." The ten War Queens shot to their feet without a hint of scraped chairs or stumbling, as would be expected from the most graceful women on Uranus. Haruka waved them back to their seats as she entered the small meeting chamber, her deceptively delicate wife on her arm. They took the twin throne-like chairs at the head of the table, Haruka's emerald eyes never leaving Sayuri's. Hikari might be the mother of the lover in question, but Haruka was her cousin and outranked Hikari, giving her the right to consult the pair. Michiru had problems following the ebb and flow of power and responsibility in a room full of Uranians, despite her extensive studies on the subject.

Sayuri stood and bowed to her queen, eyes locking with Haruka's. "I have been alone for a long time, Majesty, and I have refused most suitors. Like my sister Queens, I will one day accept a reasonable marriage proposal, but I never expected to have this kind of connection with one of my fellow War Queens." Miki turned to her cousin, her eyes silently begging for permission to explore a relationship with Sayuri, wherever it might lead them.

One thing that had always confused Michiru was how much of the Uranian language was left to interpretation. Even when speaking Sol Standard, which the War Queens always used when their new second Queen was expected to be in attendance, they never said everything that they meant. Sayuri would never specifically ask for permission for anything, so she waited in silence after presenting her position and laying out her feelings for Haruka to see. The blonde considered her blonde cousin and her Tenth for a moment, smiling at both of them. "Of course you have my permission, Sayuri, as long as Miki will put up with you."

"If she lasts as long as she did last night, I would probably consider a return visit," Miki quipped, grinning as the War Queens relaxed at her words. The tension was gone, and with the budding relationship sanctioned by the Queen they could return to their normal daily business.

Hikari pointed at the reports floating in the air above the table, pulling one out of the mix and pushing it to the other screens. "Majesty, I believe that you started approving the new appointments to our embassies, but you stopped at Venus."

"I got a little distracted," Haruka replied, somehow keeping a straight face and managing not to look at her wife. She fooled no one, but her Queens would never say anything about it. "I approve the Venusian, but I think we need to change the election for Mars. I've met your aunt, Tomoko, and I do not believe that she is up to the challenge of that particular Royal Court."

"She's a fine warrior," Tomoko replied, not a hint of emotion in her voice, "and she has two arts titles."

"She's never had a diplomatic assignment off-world, and Martians are notoriously tribal, though not as bad as Jovians. Your aunt will be perfect for the Plutonian post and I will assign Sanae's sister and husband, since she is related to the High Lady of Deimos, to take that open seat. Their children could use some time off-world to sharpen their war skills so that they are ready to train for the Ganymede Invitational in five years." She let her eyes meet her Second's, grinning at the shock she could see there. "You think that I have had my head in the sand for the past decade? I know that your nieces want to join the Tournament, but without practice against non-Uranian opponents they will never learn the skills they need to win. Tell your sister when this is over."

"Thank you, Majesty."

"Don't call me Majesty, not you. Not any of you. My loyal War Queens, I will always be just Haruka to you."

Michiru smiled at her wife's words, amazed at how well the blonde was adapting to life as the leader of Uranus. This was where she belonged.

* * *

Serenity stood beside the huge pile of luggage, every case a different color and shape, Ami and a trio of servants trying to decide how best to organize the collection. The other senshi stood talking in small groups nearby, some with the War Queens, while Setsuna stood at the Moon Princess's side silently. Makoto, remembering how Ami had berated her for her poor packing skills weeks ago, remained as far away from the chaos as she could. "I'm glad we decided to return via ship instead of teleporting."

Setsuna glanced down at the child's words, smiling in response. "You just want to make sure that the senshi have to visit the Palace for a while instead of just returning here when they have delivered you to your palace."

Serenity nodded. "You know I do. When Mother left two days ago, she offered to take me home, but I wasn't ready to be separated from my Senshi. It will be nice to have them visit without secrets about Haruka's identity or the purpose of their mission hanging over our heads. The darkness may still be coming, but they now have their full powers to face it."

"Haruka wouldn't allow Michiru to teleport." That was the real reason the senshi had changed their plans so precipitously, though no one had told the Queens that. If Shousha knew that her daughter was ill, she would demand that Michiru return to Neptune and see her own physicians, something that the young senshi had already refused.

"I know. She was sick again this morning, worse this time, and she has had barely anything to eat all day. Haruka didn't want to let her go, at all, but I convinced her that my mother might be able to help. The ginzuishou has the power to heal, after all."

Setsuna's garnet eyes grew distant at those words, the Plutonian remembering how many queens she had seen shattered in the past three thousand years. "It is a capricious stone, Serenity, and it may not help."

"But the Planet Crystals are whole again, so it must have returned to full strength," the blonde argued, reaching out to grab Setsuna's arm. "I'm sure there is something my mother can do, especially since Michiru refuses to see a doctor."

"I don't require a doctor," Michiru retorted as she joined the pair, looking decidedly better than she had that morning. "I feel fine now, and I'm actually getting hungry."

"That's a good sign. I'm going to assume that Haruka still won't let you teleport."

Michiru giggled, watching as the trio of servants began to load the first of the luggage onto a floating sled nearby to be taken onto the ship. "She's very protective. She would prefer that I not teleport until at least two days after this sickness passes."

Setsuna grinned, turning back to her observation of the luggage. "Overprotectiveness is often considered a Uranian partner's greatest strength. You like it."

"I do. But don't ever tell Haruka that."

* * *

Rei stared into the fire, her purple eyes searching for some consolation in those bright depths. Despite their recent success with waking the planets, the Time Knot had not changed that much, as if this step was inevitable. She needed to know what they should do next to stop the darkness that was fast approaching.

"Rei, you've been here for hours. Have you seen anything?"

The Martian shook her head, turning away from the fire and rubbing her tired eyes. An attentive pair of servants had kept her fire going all day, and they still sat patiently to one side with more wood and tools to feed and fan the flame for as long as the Priestess required. Minako waved a hand at them, asking them to feed the fire and then leave the pair alone. As soon as the door closed behind the servants, Minako sat down beside her partner and wrapped her arms comfortingly around the Martian's waist, resting her head on Rei's shoulder.

"Mina, how do you expect me to read the flames with you distracting me?"

Minako smiled at the teasing tone of Rei's voice, cuddling as close as she could without the fire overheating her. Martians had a very high tolerance for heat that their celestial cousins did not share. "Just relax. Maybe I can help light your way."

"Fire reading doesn't work like that."

"You've never tried," Minako scolded. "Don't discount my idea before trying it!"

Rei smiled as she rested her head on Minako's for a moment. "Ok, I will try." She closed her eyes and raised her hands in front of her chest, opening herself to the blonde at her side as she prepared to begin her chant. She grimaced and squinted her eyes as she struggled to accustom herself to the brilliance of her partner's aura. "Now I know why Neptune asked you to tone it down."

She chanted under her breath and focused the power of Mars into the flames, feeling them respond for the first time in days, Venus's golden light pushing back the shadows that had blocked her sight. An image slowly formed in both of their minds, the senshi too close for the Venusian not to see what her soulmate experienced. The first image was of a defiant Sailor Pluto standing with her divine parents and Uranus, facing Zeus and a handful of other gods across an empty Lunar plain as Psyche and Eros cried nearby. Golden feathers littered the ground at their feet, but the scene faded before the senshi could determine why the gods were at odds.

The second scene was of Sailor Pluto standing in a foggy gray world, standing guard beside a pair of tall doors covered in lunar symbols. Neither senshi had ever seen the Time Gate in person, but they knew that Pluto would guard nothing else. Though she stood perfectly still against the Winds of Time, though her long green hair was perfect and her uniform spotless, she looked broken, and alone. There seemed to be tears in her crimson eyes and her hand grasped the Time Key a little too tightly.

The third image flashed by quickly, a small boy with white hair standing in a beautiful garden, golden power glowing from his slight form. Sailor Pluto, the only spot of darkness in that bright world, watched him sadly as he exclaimed over the flowers and dipped his fingers in the pool. A slender golden horn glowed from his forehead.

The last image was completely different, set on a world that both woman instantly recognized as Earth, though one far more advanced than the one that Endymion's family currently ruled. A tall gate, standing at the top of a long staircase, guarded an empty courtyard and a simple building beyond. A black-haired woman in a white shirt and red pants, the style reminiscent of the clothing that Earthlings currently wore, sat inside a room in that simple wooden building, a fire crackling before her. A striking blue-eyed blonde slid the door open and entered, kneeling beside the raven-haired fire-reader and touching her arm. The first woman turned and smiled at her partner, waiting for the blonde to rest her head on her shoulder before letting her dark purple eyes return to her meditations.

Rei jerked out of the vision as the fire snuffed itself out, the power of her Martian heritage breaking the premonition before it became dangerous. She could only look into the future for so long before she became lost and forgot how to return to her own body. Minako shook her head to clear the last of the images away, turning to her partner in a silent request for an explanation.

"I don't know what any of it meant," Rei replied, "and I am not used to seeing such confusing images. The gods have not fought since they retired to Olympus, and why would Setsuna be among them? As far as we know, she cannot visit them as a mortal and tries not to involve them in her life as Sailor Pluto."

"The second image worries me," Minako admitted. "If she is standing alone, guarding the Time Gate, where are the rest of us? Why does she need to be there in person when she has servants and computers to monitor the time streams for her?"

"And who was that child? He seemed powerful, more than I would expect from a boy. He had the power of a Senshi, but different."

Minako smiled at the fourth image as it crossed both of their minds. "That was you in that strange building, staring into the fire. It must be from the same future that we saw with Setsuna, since you have the same black hair."

"And you were with me. I have to admit, that gives me hope."

"I will always be with you, Rei," Minako promised, taking her lover's hands in her own. "We are soul mates, and I will never let you go."

Rei smiled and pulled the blonde into her lap and rested her chin on top of her partner's bowed head. "I know. I will always find you, no matter what."

* * *

"Those aren't the clearest visions you've ever had."

Rei shrugged. "True, but the images themselves were very vivid, more than I would expect from a fire-reading. I'm sure that Minako's presence helped."

Haruka nodded, leaning against the wall near the spacious balcony. "When I was with Michi, her visions were clearer and came easier. It helps, not to be alone."

"Haruka, I think that we will be alone." The blonde turned to her companion in shock, eyes pale against her face. "No, I didn't see anything like that in the fire, but that last image was our next life. Something in the way I was sitting and the way Minako entered that strange room . . . they were not comfortable with their relationship. I think they did not remember this life and this love. I couldn't tell Minako, but I think that they did not have the power to detect soul mates. In the future, on Earth, we don't even seem to have the innate powers that we get from our planets, like a Venusian's ability to know her soul's partner. If we have to be reborn into that kind of life to become powerful, I want nothing of it."

Makoto, the only other person in the room, nodded in agreement with her Martian counterpart. "It took me long enough to win Ami in this life, and I know that it didn't take Mariya nearly as long with Chieko. I want her to remember me, even in our next incarnation. Didn't one of Setsuna's prophecies indicate that we would be reborn with memories of all of our lives intact?"

"Yes, one of them. We can only hope that it comes true."

"We should also hope that the others do not learn of our fears," Rei replied in a softer voice. "It's enough that _we_ realize the danger inherent in my visions, eh Wind?"

"Of course, Pyro. They won't hear it from me. Thunder?"

Makoto shrugged nonchalantly. "Of course, I think that we will defeat the darkness and none of this will matter. That is what I am most focused on."

"Agreed," the other two replied together. They just wished they knew what the four visions meant and if they foretold victory or defeat.

* * *

"It happens every year. I'm kind of surprised that you haven't heard of it."

Haruka shrugged at Makoto as she tightened the laces on her boots. "I did grow up in near-perfect isolation on Uranus. Who would bother to tell me about a festival on the Moon that I could never attend?"

"It starts on the first day of April, just a week from now," Ami explained, perfectly happy to have a reason to delve into the vast reservoir of knowledge that she carried. Makoto waved a hand at the Mercurian, reminding her to keep fixing her armor while she spoke. "The first day is for introductions and to allow time for the planetary delegations to get settled. I'm told that this event is the reason that the palace has so many guest suites. Then, each planet has a day to present their culture, show off their senshi, and celebrate their place in the Silver Millennium. Mercury goes first on the second day of the festival, then Venus, and so on, until we reach Pluto on the tenth day and a have huge ball on the eleventh. To be honest, after all of the celebrations and parties that we have attended lately, I might be a bit worn out."

Rei chuckled, hiding knives throughout her armor as Minako pulled her hair into a practical warrior's braid. Ever since that morning when Haruka had fixed their hair, the blonde had taken an interest in styling her lover's crimson locks. "This is the first time in over twenty years that every senshi will be present. There is no way that we are letting you out of this if we have to participate. Besides, the last day is my birthday, so if I am willing to miss my own personal party to be part of this celebration, you can show up."

"I didn't realize your birthday was so soon," Minako murmured, pinning the last of Rei's locks in place with a trio of jeweled sticks that had to be weapons of some sort. "Do you usually have a party?"

"A small one," Rei shrugged. "Warriors try not to waste time on frivolities." She looked up as Ado, Hikari, and Miki entered the barracks, the three War Queens already dressed for the battle drills. Haruka had paused in her preparations at Rei's words, confusion in her eyes.

"You have a party to celebrate your birthday?" Michiru straightened at the question, already sensing where Haruka's thoughts were headed.

"Of course," Minako answered, brightening at the question. "On Venus, we make a huge event of it, sometimes lasting days depending on the guest of honor's rank and age. My seventeenth birthday party lasted a week, though I didn't have one this year because of my Soul Mate Ritual."

"I've never had a birthday celebration," Haruka murmured, her eyes fading to blue. "My mother died the day I was born, so my planet mourns her death on that day."

"For twenty-one years?"

"Yes, Minako. My father has arranged the two-week Mourning event every year since she was lost."

The silence weighed heavily on the senshi as they all stopped what they were doing to stare at their blonde leader. Even the War Queens were at a loss for words. They did miss Kazeko greatly, but they had never really considered the damage that Koshu's edict had done to his daughter, a child who had never known her mother.

Michiru moved first, crossing the small room and sitting beside her wife. The three War Queens perked up at the action, intently focused on their rulers. "They spent two decades mourning Kazeko because she was a great queen, but they have you now. It's time they stop mourning her and start celebrating you. She will never be forgotten, but it's time for your people to accept that she is gone and to move on. Next year, my love, and every year thereafter, you will have a two-week birthday celebration, and there will never be a Mourning again."

" _Thy will be done,"_ Ado replied as the three War Queens bowed, having spoken in a rather colloquial dialect of High Mirandan, her words clearly a traditional response.

Michiru looked up in shock, glancing back at her wife for an explanation. Haruka laughed and stood up, Michiru's words and the War Queens' response having cheered her up immensely. "You just made your first proclamation, my queen. They will obey you."

"I . . . I didn't mean . . ." The senshi had never seen Michiru at a loss for words, but clearly she had no idea how to respond to this sudden reminder of the power she held over the Uranian people.

"Did you mean what you said to Haruka?" Hikari asked as she straightened from her bow first, the other two War Queens following her lead.

"Yes, of course."

"Then we will see it done, my queen. If we continued to mourn Kazeko now that we have Haruka as our Queen, it would be disrespectful. You're right, it's time for that to be over. I, for one, cannot wait to see Haruka's first birthday party."

Michiru giggled, enjoying that mental image herself. "I can't wait. But, Hikari, please just call me by my name. I'm no more a fan of being addressed by my position than Ruka is. Michiru will always be fine for me."

"Of course, Michiru." Hikari waved a hand at her companions and nodded toward the door. "Are you ready for the battle drills?"

The senshi nodded as Haruka stepped forward and led them out of the barracks, heading for the practice field they had used months ago to hone their powers. It had been so long since she had stood there, teaching the fledgling senshi how to use their newfound power to fight, since she had challenged them in full-on Uranian Fury, since she had teleported away to find Michiru. The blonde stood there, lost in her memories, Michiru's gentle hand on her arm breaking the spell.

"We succeeded in everything you planned back then, Ruka," she murmured. "You are a different person now than you were before we met, as Serenity knew you could be."

Haruka nodded, smiling despite herself. "Yes, she saw through my anger and was able to show me that I needed love. That I needed you. That was the last time I trained here."

"Which is why we are back," Minako reminded them, stepping forward and scratching a line in the dirt with the toe of her boot. "You said that we are starting with speed drills?"

Haruka nodded, taking her spot one step in front of the line as the senshi and three War Queens lined up just behind it. Ado, Hikari, and Miki were by far the fastest, strongest, most powerful, and among the most heavily titled War Queens, and they had been thrilled to join the senshi in their battle training. The other Queens had stayed back on Uranus to manage the heavy workload of the Council while Haruka had been escorted to the Moon by her most loyal subjects.

When she had offered them the chance to help her train the other senshi, all three War Queens had been on board. They glanced at the young senshi, quickly correcting their stances and giving some helpful hints before the race began. The goal was to keep up with Haruka for as long as possible, to push themselves beyond their normal limits, and then for the senshi to transform and do it again. Haruka was easily the fastest of the Uranians, and no off-worlder had ever beaten one in a race, but she was determined that her sister senshi would learn speed.

With barely a flicker of her fingers, Haruka signaled that the race was ready to begin. Five seconds later, she was off, the senshi and War Queens right behind her. They raced across the training grounds and ducked through an archway into the expansive Lunar Gardens. They raced through mazes, around meticulously-kept flower beds, and around the edges of intricate fountains. _Keep your focus on the goal,_ Haruka's voice echoed in their minds. Their link had been growing stronger, and the Uranian's words no longer screamed with the force of a hurricane, merely the whisper of an afternoon breeze. _Do not think of your struggle to breath, the burning in your legs, or your body's increasing demands that you stop. Do not think of your lover or your princess or your reward when this is done. Stay in the now, and keep running._

Ami, Makoto, and Minako started to slow first, their flagging strength evident in their labored breathing and missed steps. Noticing that she was losing her followers, Haruka held out her hand, planet crystal glowing from between her fingers. Michiru echoed the action instantly, summoning her transformation as the other women also recognized the command. The six senshi, energized by the life-force of their planets, increased their speed, the three War Queens coming to a halt as Uranus jumped for the roof of the palace. The other senshi followed easily, their strength renewed, but the War Queens could not make a three-story jump with only mortal strength. They watched the senshi group vanish onto the roof, none of them breathing hard despite the long run.

Uranians had much greater lung capacity and ability to process oxygen than people from the other planets, a powerful adaptation that let them survive on their harsh desert worlds. Because much of their food was mildly toxic, their livers were also larger and stronger than normal, which also allowed them to filter and process the lactic acid produced by exercising faster and more efficiently than off-worlders. Haruka could conceivably run for hours without reaching a point of exhaustion, so she let the others transform to give them a chance to keep up.

Sailor Uranus glanced over her shoulder as she raced across the roof toward the inner wall, not surprised to see Neptune at her side, Mars just behind her. Jupiter and Venus followed three or four steps behind with Mercury in the rear. They raced for the better part of an hour across the roof and walls, jumping into the courtyard and dashing past the trio of War Queens practicing their Sword Dances in the training field. Mercury faltered first, falling to the ground in a crumpled heap near Miki's feet, the Uranian crouching beside the senshi and calling for a medic. Jupiter missed the next landing on the roof, tumbling to an open balcony one level down where a trio of medics awaited her. Venus and Mars stumbled at the same moment, helping each other jump down to meet Princess Serenity and another pair of medics. Venus watched Neptune and Uranus race off, knowing that she could have kept up a little while longer, but she had twisted her ankle when she botched the landing on the final jump and she wasn't willing to permanently damage herself in a training exercise.

Uranus was not truly surprised that Neptune was her last companion. She could feel the fluttering of exhaustion across their bond, but Michiru was not ready to stop yet. Haruka pushed herself to run faster, far faster than the easy pace she could have maintained for hours more yet, and she felt even her muscles start to burn as breathing became more difficult. She felt the first stab of pain in Michiru's legs across their link, slamming to a halt as she caught her wife in her arms. They both let their transformations fade as Michiru struggled for breath, completely drained, the muscles in her legs twitching as they struggled to recover. One of the groups of medics waiting in the gardens spotted them as they came to a stop, dashing over to offer what assistance they could.

"You kept up with me," Haruka murmured, relaxing as the medics placed an analgesic patch on Michiru's legs, relieving most of her pain and quieting their link. "It must have been agony."

"Of course not," Michiru replied, offering that sweet smile that she saved for Haruka alone. "I can't fight like you, the Senshi of Battle, but I will run with you and I will always be by your side. No matter how fast you run, you will never shake me off."

Haruka grinned as the other women rejoined them, shooing one of the medics away as he offered to examine her. "Of course not. We will always run together." She glanced up at the four senshi struggling to walk, weak despite the assistance of the hovering medics, Serenity and the War Queens helping them as best as they could. "But for now you have all earned a rest. I am impressed at how long you were able to keep up, and the precision of your jumps has improved drastically since we last trained. The Queens and I will practice some Sword Dances, and you are welcome to watch while you recover. In a couple of hours you will all go through the simpler Dances again, and tomorrow we will work on our powers."

The senshi nodded, Haruka helping Michiru to her feet as she led all of the women back to the training field. She found herself breathing more heavily than usual as the four Uranians approached the sword rack, and Hikari caught her eye as she noticed the labored breaths. "She really pushed you, didn't she?" Haruka nodded, taking a pair of swords from the rack as the spectators settled into the observation area and the Uranians entered the field. "I've never seen an off-worlder run so fast. I see that she can mimic your speed as well as she mimics Rei's bloodlust."

Haruka nodded as she twirled her swords, stretching her back and facing her opponent. Ado and Miki echoed their stance a few feet away. "You approve of my queen." It wasn't a question, but a careful observation. Haruka knew that Hikari liked Michiru and approved of her as their new leader's wife, but she had never been sure that the War Queens approved of Michiru as a warrior until now.

"More and more every day," Hikari replied, her swords meeting Haruka's as they began the Last Wind Sword Dance, easily the most complicated double dance known on her world. The senshi and Moon Princess watched in amazed silence as the two pairs of Uranians demonstrated in perfect synchronicity their world's favorite art form. Haruka had promised them just such a demonstration before she fled to Neptune to meet Michiru, and now they watched in amazement at the speed and intricacy of the sword dances they had not been able to learn. The four Uranians were happy to demonstrate these dances, most of which had never been shown to outsiders before.

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **AN:** The final scene existed to show Michiru's new power over the Uranians and to have that scene between Michiru and Haruka after the race. The dialogue came almost word-for-word from _Last Dracul Jokyoku_ when Neptune is turned into a vampire and _Transylvania no Mori (_ and _Kaiteiban)_ when Haruka is turned into a vampire. I think there are maybe 2 chapters left at this point. This one was mostly to get them back to the Moon for the final battle, advance Beryl's plan, and to give a couple of premonitions about the final chapter. The very end is already written, so everything will be leading to that now.

**Author's Note:**

>  **The Last Sacrifice: The End of the Silver Millennium** notes:
> 
> I have recently gone back through every chapter and added dates (based on the Silver Millennium Standard Calendar). The Silver Millennium is 10,000 years old, but the current calendar starts from the day each of the first senshi avatars were born (the ones that are children of the patron gods, not just the original ones who were children of Serenity, Tranquility, and Se). Therefore, the very first senshi were all born in 1017 B.U. (Before Unification) and Haruka was born in 8962 S.Y. (Silver Millennium Standard Year). The senshi were all born on the same date as their human counterparts for simplicity's sake. Since the gods originated on Earth and since the Moon is the center of the Silver Millennium, all planets use a standard Earth-based calendar. It would be too complicated if they each had their own calendar based on the rotations and revolutions of the individual planets. The story spans 21 years and the breakdown and chapter dates are below. I decided to post the date information here since this is my most popular and longest fanfic (it's almost as long as all of my other canon SM put together).
> 
> **Story Year - Senshi (age in ch 2-37) birthdate**
> 
> 0 - Haruka (21) 1-27-8962  
> 0 - TLS:ESM (ch1:pt1) 1-27-8962  
> 0 - Michiru (20-21) 3-6-8962  
> 1 - Makoto (19-20) 12-5-8963  
> 2 - Rei (18-19) 4-11-8964  
> 2 - Ami (18) 9-10-8964  
> 2 - Minako (18) 10-22-8964  
> 6 - Serenity (14) 6-30-8969  
> 6 - TLS:ESM (ch1:pt2) 6-30-8969  
> 14 - Makoto wins Ganymede Invitational (age 13) 12-15-8976  
> 17 - Haruka wins Ganymede Invitational (age 17) 12-15-8979  
> 20 - TLS:ESM (ch 2-3) 10-22-8982  
> 21 - TLS:ESM (ch 4-37) 1-20-8983 to 6-13-8983  
> 21 - The Silver Millennium Falls (ch37) 6-13-8983
> 
> **Chapters by date**
> 
> Chapter 1 – January 27, 8962 – June 30, 8969  
> Chapter 2 – October 22, 8982  
> Chapter 3 – October 22, 8982  
> Chapter 4 – January 20, 8983  
> Chapter 5 – January 20, 8983  
> Chapter 6 – January 20, 8983 – January 21, 8983  
> Chapter 7 – January 22, 8983  
> Chapter 8 – January 22, 8983 – January 24, 8983  
> Chapter 9 – January 24, 8983 – January 26, 8983  
> Chapter 10 – January 26, 8983  
> Chapter 11 – January 27, 8983 – February 11, 8983  
> Chapter 12 – February 11, 8983 – February 12, 8983  
> Chapter 13 – February 12, 8983  
> Chapter 14 – February 12, 8983 – February 13, 8983  
> Chapter 15 – February 13, 8983  
> Chapter 16 – February 13, 8983 – February 14, 8983  
> Chapter 17 – February 14, 8983 – February 15, 8983  
> Chapter 18 – February 15, 8983  
> Chapter 19 – February 15, 8983 – February 16, 8983  
> Chapter 20 – February 17, 8983  
> Chapter 21 – February 17, 8983 – February 20, 8983  
> Chapter 22 – February 20, 8983  
> Chapter 23 – February 20, 8983  
> Chapter 24 – February 20, 8983  
> Chapter 25 – February 20, 8983 – February 27, 8983  
> Chapter 26 – February 27, 8983 – February 28, 8983  
> Chapter 27 – February 28, 8983  
> Chapter 28 – March 1, 8983  
> Chapter 29 – March 1, 8983 – March 3, 8983  
> Chapter 30 – March 6, 8983  
> Chapter 31 – March 6, 8983  
> Chapter 32 – March 6, 8983  
> Chapter 33 – March 6, 8983 – March 7, 8983  
> Chapter 34 – March 17, 8983 – March 18, 8983  
> Chapter 35 – March 20, 8983 – March 23, 8983  
> Chapter 36 – March 24, 8983 – April 11, 8983  
> Chapter 37 – April 12, 8983 – June 13, 8983


End file.
